Career center helps students stay on track

TAMPA - Students at a Bay Area career center are getting creative in the kitchen. These are kids who were on the verge of being dropouts.

Demetrius Walker and Jorge Sosa are cooking up a shepherd’s pie. Thursday's lunch special is a part of the curriculum at Bowers/Whitley Career Center in Tampa. The school has 10 different programs, including one in culinary arts. The career center for teens who can't stay out of trouble or have failed the traditional classroom setting.

"It's for students who maybe high school wasn't the right fit for them. Traditional school wasn't their thing," said Sheryl White, a school chef.

Both teens have been kicked out of schools and suspended several times. That all changed when they enrolled at the career center.

"Now I am very humble, very patient. I learned to listen before I speak. That's a good pointer for me, because I just used to talk," said Sosa.

"Before I was getting kicked out of school and failing and I came here and it helped me. So now I get to pass and get better grades," said Walker.

In fact, both students will earn their high school diploma this year and plan on enrolling at Hillsborough Community College. Stories like these are seen around campus. The graduation rate is 90 percent. It's the perfect ingredients to help trouble teens back on the right track.

“My students can go out into the workforce and they can show their credentials and say look it, I'm ready to work," said White.

MORE INFO: Bowers/Whitley Career Center