02-13-2011 | FEC-funded Harvard student in the news
Manuel Mendoza’s success and ambition defy expectations in a community where gangs rule. Manuel graduated from East Chicago Central in June, a school that is on probation and under threat of state takeover. The school had a 2010 graduation rate of 52 percent, down from 55.7 percent the previous year. There were 325 students in his graduating class, only 169 of them graduated. Central has a free and reduced lunch percentage of 99 percent.
Now a freshman at Harvard University, Manuel said he never let the neighborhood affect him. “I see it. I live here. It’s never been a problem for me,” he said.
Read more about FEC-funded student Manuel Mendoza in Carmen McCollum’s article in the Northwest Indiana Times.
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