Napa Valley Register Editorial

Teens recognized for ability to overcome obstacles

By Natalie Hoffman, Register Staff Writer

Thursday, May 01, 2008

Judging from Matt Prieto’s ready smile and energetic demeanor, you’d never guess he spent much of his youth overcoming the odds. Innately optimistic, the Vintage High School student’s spirit remains undefeated by experience.

Prieto, 18, will never forget the horrible abuse he suffered at the hands of his uncle for more than seven years. Though a relative once walked into the room while the abuse was happening, Prieto said that person failed to come to his aid.

As an adolescent, Prieto was introduced to drugs — using speed and methamphetamine until breaking away from addiction in June of 2004; he has not used in four years.

With the 2007-2008 school year came another scare. The Vintage High School student said he received death threats from peers who took issue with his sexual orientation.

“Even today, I get (harassing) yells from across the street here,” he said. “But I don’t really hear them anymore.”

One of 29 local teens to be awarded a $2,500 scholarship from the If Given a Chance Foundation this year, Prieto is taking charge of his education and future while overcoming a troubled past. He’s headed for the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in San Francisco, where he has earned another scholarship.

Jim King, executive director of the If Given a Chance Foundation, said all the organization’s scholarship recipients have suffered abuse, neglect, poverty, disease and other significant obstacles.

“The wide range of issues that these kids have faced are just mind boggling. … Some have dealt with the loss of both parents,” he said. “I think it’s pretty important for the community to understand that we are an amazing place … but there are still these kind of hidden areas of life here. For the community to wake up and support them in this is just amazing.”

This year, an anonymous family pledged $100,000 to the foundation. If others raise $150,000 to continue the foundation’s work, the family will provide matching funds, according to King.

King said the foundation started the scholarship program 13 years ago and since 1995, more than 300 scholarships have been awarded to local students.

“It’s a real mix, but last count, we had kids in 36 colleges across the United States and we expect that to continue,” said King.

Up from depression

The foundation received more than 50 student applications this year. King said although any local adult can nominate students for the scholarships, the foundation gets most nominees through teachers, school counselors, foster parents, probation officers and police officers.

Nominated by his teachers Julie Lovie and Chris McClure, Christopher Marshall — an 18-year-old Valley Oak High School student and scholarship recipient — said he plans to attend DeVry University after first taking computer science and general education courses at Napa Valley College.

Although they are technically his grandparents, Marshall refers to Sandy and Jim Marshall as his parents — they legally adopted him when he was a year old after his biological mother could not properly care for him. Marshall said he battled depression for three years when his mother was diagnosed with cancer and his father had a quadruple heart bypass.

“Those things really stuck with me. From ninth to 11th grade, it really got me down and my grades were down,” said Marshall, who transferred from Napa High School to Valley Oak for his senior year.

Sandy Marshall said when she and her husband became ill, it had a profound effect on their son. “I think a real contributor to Chris’ downfall was my surgery. ... He pretty much gave up and we saw him struggle.”

Marshall, who maintained a 4.0 GPA this year at Valley Oak, credits his teachers, religious faith and family with helping him to get back on track.

Chris’ parents — who are trying to sell their house and prepare for retirement — said the scholarship will provide much needed financial assistance while also rewarding Chris for his hard work.

“I am so proud of him. Chris has come from a lot of personal struggles. ... I’m extremely proud of the person Chris has become,” said his mother.

Deciding which students would receive this year’s scholarships was not an easy task for foundation members.

“The committee said this was the toughest year for choices that we’ve ever had,” said King, who annually joins committee members to sift through applications which reveal the poignant life trials of dozens of local students.

“Sometimes (committee members) will do something like lock themselves into the bathroom so no one will see them cry. … It’s pretty powerful,” he said.

Although the foundation has spent more than a decade supporting Napa youth, committee members want to do more, King said. This year, they are launching the CAN program — which stands for Communicate your needs, Advocate for services and Navigate college campuses and independent living. Designed to help students stay in school by teaching them how to best take advantage of resources at college campuses, the program will also offer techniques for overcoming academic obstacles on campus and foster everyday skills like budgeting and cooking, King said.

“The CAN Program was the result of realizing that although 79 percent of our students return for their second year (of college), there are that 21 percent that didn’t,” said King. Partnering with Napa Valley College, the foundation now requires that scholarship recipients attend the new program or a similar one at their university of choice, he said.

King said the community shares the foundation’s mission to “make sure that the next part of (the teens’) lives are vastly different. ... Each year, I’m completely blown away knowing that once again, we’re sending these kids to college and the community has made it possible.”

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