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For Local Foster Care Teens, Graduation Blends Hope and Fear

By Ana Tintocalis / Education Reporter,  KPBS Public Broadcasting
Published June 21, 2007 at 1:53 PM PDT
This story was published more than 17 years ago.

A group of San Diego County foster care teens graduated today from San Pasqual Academy in Escondido. For the past four years the students have called the campus home. KPBS reporter Ana Tintocalis has

For Local Foster Care Teens, Graduation Blends Hope and Fear

Photo: Ortisha Jones is one of 24 San Pasqual Academy graduates.

A group of San Diego County foster care teens graduated today from San Pasqual Academy in Escondido. For the past four years the students have called the campus home. KPBS reporter Ana Tintocalis has more.

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A song called Hope by hip-hop artist Twista played for two-dozen graduates after the ceremony. They picked this song because it’s about moving ahead in life despite coming from a broken home.

The graduates came to San Pasqual because they had no other place to go. Each day they've kept a structured schedule telling them when to eat, study and sleep.

Senior Andre Hickerson is grateful, but worries about the road ahead.

Hickerson : We're like in this small little area learning everything, then we're about to go in this huge world. You know what I mean. How's my life end up for the future? Will I be living or surviving? And basically it’s all on me, all the pressure is now on me.

Hickerson and the others have scholarships and plan to attend local community colleges and universities.

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Ana Tintocalis, KPBS News.

Ana Tintocalis
Ana Tintocalis was a member of the KPBS radio news team from 2001 to 2011. She first served as a as a producer for "These Days" (now "Midday Edition") and then later as the station's education reporter. After graduating from California State University, Long Beach with a journalism degree, Ana began working as a field reporter and anchor at KLON Radio 88.1 FM in Long Beach, covering breaking news in Orange and Los Angeles counties. During that time she also freelanced for other print and broadcast news organizations, such as Metro Networks, the Associated Press, and Santa Clarita Our Times. In 2001, Ana traveled for more than three months in Cuba where she produced a radio series focusing on the street music in Havana. Upon returning from her journey, Ana freelanced as a reporter covering court cases for the Antelope Valley Press, a newspaper based in Palmdale, California.
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