Students at Texans Can Academy – Garland Can gave a warm welcome to speakers, Jay Gumm of Forgiven Felons and Sheyla Camacho of Hope’s Door New Beginnings, who visited the school to share their life experiences with the students. The speaker series at Texans Can Academies – Garland Can, also known as the school’s “think tank” sessions, was focused on encouraging the students to think about life decisions to forward their lives in the direction of success.

Forgiven Felons is a nonprofit organization that was created to assist formerly incarcerated individuals in their journey to becoming productive citizens once again. Gumm organized a meeting with male students at Texans Can Academy – Garland Can to provide lessons beyond high school and spoke on how to avoid the cycle of incarceration in families.

Hope’s Door New Beginnings is a nonprofit organization that provides extensive women’s counseling services. The organization was created to assist individuals and families affected by intimate partner and family violence and to provide education programs that enhance the community’s capacity to respond. Camacho spoke with the female students at Texans Can Academy – Garland Can on how to recognize signs of domestic abuse and how to manage each situation in the most effective way possible.

Texans Can Academies believe in the responsibility of helping their students earn their high school diplomas and step off the graduation stage with a plan and the tools for the next steps in their lives. Needs in and outside of the classrooms are focused on by advisors at Texans Can Academies to promote productive citizenship among the students.

Texans Can Academies strive to provide the highest quality education for all students, especially those who have struggled in a traditional high school setting, in order to ensure economic independence. To date, more than 141,120 students have changed their lives and the lives of their families through Texans Can Academies.

For more information on Texans Can Academies, please visit www.texanscan.org.