A Backpack Changed His Life

This article is by Cheryl Opper, Founder and Executive Director of School on Wheels of Massachusetts - providing academic support and one-on-one mentoring so children can reach their full potential.

I first met Will when he was 14 years old and living at the Super 8 Motel in Brockton with his mom and family. It was August 2006, and I was dropping off backpacks to the children in the motels.

Will had lost his home right before starting high school; his family was evicted from their apartment. He remembers his mom telling him to pack up his stuff because they were moving into a motel.  He said it was the hardest time in his life, to not have a place to call home and to live in a crowded motel room with his family as a teenager. Will said he kept it a secret and didn’t tell any of his friends. He told me, “On the outside I looked like I was the same, but on the inside I was really hurting because I felt like I had lost everything.”

Will said after receiving his new backpack he started thinking, “It is time to get serious about my education. If someone I don’t even know cares about my education, I better start caring about it, too!” Will played football at Brockton High School. He became a star football player and worked hard to continue to do better in school.

Will is now in our High School Plus program, and he is attending Onondaga Community College in Syracuse. This fall, SOWMA helped pay for his college textbooks, dorm supplies and his football pads. Will’s dream is to play for the University of Miami and one day be drafted to the NFL. He recently told me School on Wheeld is going to be rich one day when he makes it to the NFL. 

Will is already a “Super Star” in our eyes He is working hard in community college so he can go to a four year university next year. In the fall of 2013, Will's team won the National Football Championship in Canton, Ohio!

Read more about Will.
Will's story was recently featured in the Huffington Post.