SPOKANE, Wash. – Roger’s high school made the New York Times as a school not only raising the bar, but hope as well.
Rogers has done big things in recent years. First with its athletics and then graduation rates.
“I know that people say that we’re bad or whatever,” Dominance Allen, a senior at Rogers High School said, “There’s not all this stuff about fights or whatever people say. There’s none of that. It’s just a good place to be.”
Dominance Allen started at Rogers like many other Freshman.
“I missed up a lot, but I gradually got better,” Allen said.
Now in his senior year, he is on the basketball team, taking advanced placement courses, and is on his way to graduation. He is not the only one though, in recent years, Rogers graduation rate rose to 82 percent, an achievement many said could not be done.
“Our kids here took it as a challenge. You don’t think we can get there. We’re going to get it and we’re going to succeed,” principal Lori Wyborney said.
For Wyborney, pushing her students has been the key to success.
“These are pretty cool kids first of all. They are kids that in many respects have struggles. They persevere through things you can’t imagine and they want come better for themselves,” Wyborney said.
Wyborney and the district have worked to break the cycle of poverty in the school’s surrounding community. Advanced placement courses, free SAT testing, and tougher schedules are just a few things that have helped raise the bar.
“It takes everybody, including the community. Including the kids, including the parents. Everyone has bought into it because they see it’s a positive thing for kids,” Wyborney said.