Why is this young lady smiling so proudly?

Because she has found hope, direction and joy in her life where there was very little before.

How was she able to do this? Read on.

Until five years ago, Ana's life was in turmoil. She was 11 years old, frequently absent from school, running the streets day and night and being lured into the gang lifestyle. Life seemed hopeless and out of control for her, like it does for so many other children who are in similar situations.

But everything started to change for Ana when she began to attend Walter Gloshinski's award winning Rekindling Hopes and Dreams program at the Santa Rosa Middle School in Santa Rosa, California.

Unlike traditional academic approaches that do not work for the Mentally Retarded, Walter Gloshinski gets results by turning his classroom into a bagel, pie, muffin, and cookie business where his students can be exposed to real life lessons.

This program teaches functional academics, vocational skills, social skills, independent living skills, and life skills in real life settings. These skills prepare the students for maximum independence as adults.

At the same time, the bagel, pie, muffin and cookie business side of the program serves the staff and students at Santa Rosa Middle School as well as dozens of businesses in downtown Santa Rosa.

Ana found meaning in this program. She began to come to school more regularly and before long her attendance was near perfect. She became a member of the school track and basketball teams and a member of the school Leadership class.

The measure of success of a program like Rekindling Hopes and Dreams is judged by what happens after students leave it. In Ana's case, it has been wonderfully successful. Here are some of her accomplishments since leaving Walter's class:

• Going into the 10th grade
• Employed at Macys where she is re-hanging clothes from the dressing rooms and translating for Spanish speaking customers
• Opened her own bank account
• Rides the city buses independently
• Baby-sits for her niece and nephew
• Cooks meals for her family
• Works as a student aide in Walter's class
• Volunteers at a local thrift store during the school year
• Is working cleaning offices 20 hours per week after school
• Has her own cell phone

Quite a turn around, wouldn't you say? Ana now feels valued and confident and her next goal is to graduate from High School (she will be only the second person in her family to accomplish this). Needless to say, Ana's progress from five years ago has been enormous, when her dreams were simply to survive the day.

Clearly, Walter Gloshinski's Rekindling Hopes and Dreams program at the Santa Rosa Middle School works. To learn more about this program and Walter's dream of expanding this kind of opportunity to even more children like Ana with his Smiling With Hope Foundation, click here.