Every year at least 1.2 million students drop out of high school. That’s one student every 26 seconds, one student in the time it takes to read these first few sentences.

Redmond’s Valeria Sanchez-Gonzalez, now a senior at Skyline High School, was almost one of those students.

By the end of her junior year in high school, Sanchez-Gonzalez had fallen behind after losing credits essential for graduation.

“It hit me I had started some really bad habits and needed to make a change for myself,” Sanchez-Gonzalez said. Determined to make this change, she turned to the Washington Youth Academy.

First established in 2008, the Washington Youth Academy is a state-run voluntary credit retrieval program for students who have either dropped out of high school or are at risk of graduating late. It gives students the opportunity to recover eight high school credits, which would take more than a year to earn in typical high schools, in only 22 weeks. For many students, this school changed their lives.

The Washington Youth Academy begins with a quasi-military style five-and-a-half-month residential program in Bremerton. Derek Foster, Sanchez-Gonzalez’s case manager, credited this structure with the success of the program because it teaches students to meet standards and learn to set their own.

“Everything was scheduled,” Sanchez-Gonzalez agreed, “It was all timed in a way that pushes you to be the best you can be both in taking care of yourself and others.”

For students, this schedule meant waking up at five in the morning every day and following a strict routine of physical exercise, personal hygiene and school work. Although the first few weeks may have seemed impossible at times, the cadets emerged “a family,” according to Sanchez-Gonzalez.

For Sanchez-Gonzalez, this family made all the difference.

“They let you know you’re not alone,” she remarked. Sanchez-Gonzalez also described how many of the staff quit higher paying jobs to work at the Washington Youth Academy, a decision which exemplifies their commitment to the students.

While supporting the students in their growth, the staff is also careful to ensure students are motivated to change from within. Foster described this philosophy as “walking with the students, but not for them.”

In the end, most of the students changed more than they ever thought possible. When she graduated in December of 2015, Sanchez-Gonzalez was part of the Washington Youth Academy’s largest class yet. Of the 152 cadets graduating, 133 earned all eight credits possible with an average grade point average of 3.4, the equivalent of a B-plus in high school.

As for Sanchez-Gonzalez, she will be returning to Skyline High School to finish up her last semester before graduating with her class in June. After that, she plans to attend a two-year college before transferring to earn her four-year degree. Her dreams for the future include pursuing a career in health care.

In light of her own experiences, Sanchez-Gonzalez is certain she wants to be there for people who are struggling with their own issues.

“I want to show them they can get through it,” she said.

Although the future is still uncertain for Sanchez-Gonzalez and the other graduates of the Washington Youth Academy, they now know that they are capable of turning their lives around.

“The world beats these kids down, tells them they’re worthless,” Foster concluded. He hopes Sanchez-Gonzalez will always remember that “she’s capable above the noise around her. She’s going to change the world.”

Claire Perry is a Redmond High School senior and editor in chief for the school’s Blaze newspaper.