A’Miracle Smith is going to Trinity High School next year. Her eyes light up when she talks about it. “The students and staff made me feel welcome, even though I just met them.” She barely takes a breath when listing the activities she is eager to get involved in there— “Theater and art and sports,” the Archbishop Lyke eighth grader gushes.

This year, the Partnership network has ramped up supports for students to apply to high schools—a sometimes daunting process, particularly for families who have never done it. But when we asked A’Miracle to explain the help she received, we came away appreciating so much more than applications and financial aid. 

A’Miracle could so easily have missed the chance to go to a high school that she’s excited to attend. She attended two public schools that were full of “lots of drama,” by her account. She transferred to Archbishop Lyke three years ago, about the same time that family circumstances compelled her to move in with sister, who was already solo parenting. 

There’s a great deal of hope in many circles—including our own—about the doors that can open for children when they have public funding for school choice, like the EdChoice scholarships that have helped make Archbishop Lyke and Trinity options for A’Miracle. Yet her story points to a host of additional ingredients that are essential, particularly for young people who face challenges others don’t have.

First, A’Miracle needed her sister. Taking full responsibility for a sibling is “a big thing to do,” A’Miracle explains. But Chardae “cares a lot about others. And she puts her courage into me.” 

Then she needed a school where she could concentrate. At Archbishop Lyke, she says teachers and staff pay attention to what she needs. They also establish clear behavioral boundaries for all students, key to help her focus on learning.

But none of that might have resulted in her going to Trinity without the help of Ebonie Blake, Archbishop Lyke’s Operations Associate. A mom of three who never stops fielding requests from parents, students, and teachers in the school’s front office, Ms. Blake noticed that A’Miracle was struggling to complete high school applications. “She took time in her day to help me with the essay; she helped me understand how to focus it.” 

So when A’Miracle pulled the letter from Trinity out of her mailbox and read that she’d been accepted, “I was crying,” she said, and she called Ms. Blake to join in the tearful celebration.

Without philanthropic support through the Partnership, Archbishop Lyke would have been hard-pressed to have more than one operations staff member—making it even harder for Ms. Blake to grab time to help a struggling eighth grader. Without donor support, there might not even be an Archbishop Lyke for her sister to choose. 

And without voters and legislators, there wouldn’t be EdChoice Scholarships sufficient to put Archbishop Lyke and Trinity within reach of kids like A’Miracle—or other elements of the social safety net that are equally crucial for her and her family. 

Being “self-made” is hardwired into American ideology, so it can be nervewracking to think about how many layers of support must come into play for one young woman to thrive. But from her sister to donors and voters who have never even met A’Miracle, one person at a time has helped her make progress so far. 

That collaboration may just be, well, a miracle.

She is just getting started. In high school, she wants to “understand my work, get good grades, meet friends I can trust, stay courageous, be a leader and help others.” 

She figures can keep relying on stability and encouragement from her sister, supports that she suspects her sister did not have in high school. She’ll have the academic foundation she’s received at ABL. She’ll also be supported by the team at Trinity. “They make me feel like I can be myself and be comfortable. I never felt that anywhere except at Archbishop Lyke.” 

She’ll have both public and philanthropic scholarship assistance—but she knows it won’t be enough. Her sister will need to work more, and A’Miracle is already lining up a summer job at Starbucks. “It’s my education; I should contribute,” she explains simply. She had thought about using her savings to pay for braces, but that can wait until she’s an adult. “High school is more important,” the fourteen-year-old observes.

“We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality,” Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote. It can make us feel “caught” to need others. But this spring, a network of individuals around one bright-eyed teenager has come together to help her access a future that she’s excited to embrace, and that’s something we can all celebrate.