The typical student at The Excel Center® – Goodwill’s high school for adult learners – is between 18-24 years old, but returning to school at the age of 47 isn’t the only characteristic that separates Brenda Leake from most of her classmates.

Chelsea Armistead’s educational path veered off course in junior high when she was diagnosed with a learning disability. At the time, to qualify for an accommodation, a student had to be failing all subjects or courses. Chelsea was only failing two. Rather than have her daughter continue to struggle without assistance or fail all her courses, Chelsea’s mother decided to home school her. After about a year of home schooling, her parents became too busy to continue, so Chelsea taught herself to be a better reader and writer but had trouble with math.