Everything Under The Sun: Where Dreams Are Made

Some of this year's graduates, captured by mobile phone.

In the Watts area of Los Angeles is a high school that has been around for more than 50 years. It's an all-boys school that is located in an area known more for gang violence, rather than for high educational standards. So, this high school, VERBUM DEI, has become something of a refuge for its students, most of whom attend this prep school with the assistance of financial aid.

Most of this high school's students come from the surrounding neighborhood and they are a talented bunch, with dreams that extend well beyond their economic shortcomings. Take, for instance, Zachary Burge, the 2015 class salutatarian, who is closer to realizing his dream, "I want to be an orthopedic surgeon or an oral surgeon." Or, the dream of valedictorian Nicholas Spates, "Most immediately, I want to major in mathematics and do a program with Georgetown and Columbia, where I can become an engineer."

These young men, who have now graduated from Verbum Dei, have worked hard and are well prepared for the next step in their educational journey. They have learned through a rigorous academic program on four days per week, along with business internship once per week. It has all showed these young men the way to what they aspire, how to reach their dream.

The school itself has undertaken its educational mission of giving the promising young men of the neighborhood this great opportunity to succeed with the help of generous benefactors, many of whom comprise the leaders of businesses throughout Los Angeles. The students who have accepted this wonderful offer of a superb education have really come through. Every student in the class of 2015 has graduated (the same as every other graduating class). Moreover, each graduate has been accepted into a college (also, the same as every other graduating class). You don't often see these statistics in a suburban public high school, much less one with all of the disadvantages of the Watts area. Yet, they are turning out graduates, who proceed onto college, with an opportunity to fulfill their life dreams.

Outside the Verbum Dei High School, serving Watts, Los Angeles.

Juan Perez Jr., one of the graduates, is the first member in his family to attend college. His family is overjoyed and very supportive. Juan reports, "They always tell me every single day - since I'm going to be the first person in my family to be going - they're extremely proud of me." Daniel Tobar, another graduate, says, "A lot of people think we just do community service for class. We do it - not for a grade - but for the community. I think that's what a lot of people don't see."

This is a group of graduates for which the Watts community has every right to feel proud. The class of 2015 has made themselves, their families, their communities, and their nation very proud, indeed.