Given Julien’s success at Cunningham’s Gerber school—thriving academically and mentoring younger students—he began transitioning to Urbana High School last fall. Uncertain about the shift, he started with one class, a photography class. This class would allow him to explore his creativity, capture meaningful moments and see the world from a new perspective.
Even with support from his staff, there were some challenges. Every day he came to school he would say, ‘I’m not going to class today!’ but he always did with some encouragement.
“There were times he didn’t even want to enter the building at all,” shared Darcy, who serves as Cunningham’s Education Coordinator. Once inside, she would greet him and talk with him about his day. They would walk to class together, sometimes walking a few times around the building if he arrived early. While they walked, Darcy said, “He was open to sharing with me about his day and about the things going on in his life as well.”
Despite his initial hesitation, the support he received helped him gradually find comfort in his new environment, allowing his personality and talents to shine in the classroom.
In the photography course, each student created their own camera out of a small box as part of learning the process of taking pictures and developing them in the school’s photo lab. His photography teacher shared that Julien was always making his classmates laugh and contributing positive energy to the classroom.
He also had an eye for photography!
In December, each area high school art teacher had the opportunity to submit ten student works of art to the University of Illinois School of Art and Design’s FAA High School Art Exhibition. The pieces could be no larger than 6 inches by 6 inches in size, with finalists chosen and the pieces displayed at the Link Gallery on the University of Illinois campus.
An image Julien titled “Apple” that was created using Pinhole Photography, was selected for display at the exhibition. This achievement was a wonderful opportunity for Julien to celebrate the milestones he reached last semester and to feel encouraged about how far he has come.
Because of his success, this semester Julien is framing his future with a second art course and shuttering his doubts as he spends more time at public school. We’re focused on watching Julien continue to heal, learn, and grow—thanks to your support, youth like him get the exposure they need to truly thrive!