Carlos Contaxis, 18, enrolled at Island High School as a junior and is now participating in Rising Sun Center for Opportunity, which prepares people for construction apprenticeships.

 

Once he completes that 12-week program, he plans to study carpentry and welding at Laney College. “Trades are important,” he says. “There are a lot of jobs in the trades and a lot of opportunities.”

 

Carlos loved Island, he says, not only for its academics but its sense of community. “Island has something really special,” he says. “I felt really safe there, and people try to engage with each other.  It made me want to be there”

 

He also enjoyed taking part in leadership activities, such as planning school spirit week and cultural heritage celebrations and collaborating on ways to better the school.

 

“A lot of people underestimate Island High School or have a negative perception of it,” he says. “But it’s just as normal AHS and EHS. We do the same kind of stuff.”

 

When asked what advice he would give to an incoming student, Carlos says, “Being there is more than half the battle. Every single day counts. If you want to have options, show up and do your work and take the opportunities to get extra credit.”