Local Eighth Grader Recognized for Lifestyle Change

When you speak to Kenlly Alvarado, it’s hard to imagine that the soft-spoken, goal-oriented teenager once disdained school. He said he used to avoid learning with his peers, focusing instead on acting out in the classroom and finding a way out of school.

He's come a long way in one school year. The 14-year-old's middle school career came to a close earlier this month with an honor: ’s eighth annual Rene Munoz-Ledo Self Determination Award.

School faculty who he once acted out against chose him as the recipient. Munoz-Ledo’s surviving sister, Rosalia Munoz-Ledo Koba—the school’s counselor for 17 years—established the annual award almost a decade ago.

Koba said she was motivated by her brother’s tenacity during the latter stages of his tumultuous life. He had lost his identity to drugs and gang life at an early age, and it took him decades to get clean. He died in his late 40s due to complications from liver cancer. In the two months prior to his passing, Koba collaborated with her brother to write a book that told of his pain and suffering. Rene hoped his story, Forgiven: A Life’s Journey from Pain to Peace, would make an impact on kids like Alvarado.

Last Wednesday, Alvarado stood on a stage alongside Koba as his improvement was applauded, holding a copy of the book and his award.

“I made a choice to change my life,” he said. “I work hard in class now, spend time with my friends at school and pay attention to my teachers. I feel better a lot better about things than I used to.”

Due to concerns about his lackluster attendance and unruly attitude, Alvarado was enrolled in the Capistrano Unified School District’s . The program partners Big Brothers Big Sisters, and other organizations with local law enforcement and school districts, with the intention of diverting youth from self-destructive lifestyles that could ultimately land them in jail.

"That was Kenlly when I first met him,” Orange County Sherriff’s Deputy Harold Abe said. “The way he was headed, it wouldn’t be long before he became affiliated with a gang and completely gave up on school.”

, an officer assigned to work with San Juan's schools, was among those who met with Kenlly during early stages of the “intervention” phase. Abe said he immediately recognized commonalities between Kenlly and other angst-filled children.

"What's so sad about many of the kids we deal with is that they don't think they're worthy of anything good," Abe noted. "You ask them, what do you want to be when you grow up? They say, nothing."

Alvarado isn't growing up in affluence and his older brother, arrested in late 2010 while attending , is in Juvenile Hall.

“The bottom line is a lot of these kids wake up every day in a tough environment,” Abe said. “It takes continued determination to keep working toward what you want, instead of looking for shortcuts through stealing or dealing drugs. They have to battle that influence every day of their childhood. We’re here to help as much as we can, but a lot of the battle is on a personal level.”

Kenlly said his brother supports his attitude improvement. “He tells me to do well in school for him and take care of my grades,” Kenlly said. “I miss him. I want to make him proud.”

Kenlly makes the leap to high school this fall, when he heads to San Juan Hills. He views the following four years as a beginning, rather than an end, to his education. 

“I want to get a scholarship to college so I can keep learning,” said Kenlly, enthusiasm apparent in his voice. “I’d like to study architecture.”