Tony Hadnot, Campus Director of Premier High School of Beaumont, uses all of his resource to help his students lead productive and meaningful lives.

His friendship with an Army recruiter was the networking tool he needed to transform the lives of students Charlesea Montgomery and Cherelle Sheppherd and provide them with meaningful careers. Enabling them to complete their high school education opened the door to the career path of their dreams.

Montgomery and Sheppherd each came from tough family situations and had many educational road blocks to overcome. The obstacles involved with graduating from high school were overwhelming to each of theses students.

“I was giving up on getting an education”, said Montgomery, “then RES gave me a second chance.”

Tony Hadnot, from Premier High School, intervened with the students to make resources available to the girls to stay in school and graduate, including mentoring and the extra review needed to prepare them for their TAKS testing.

“Premier gave me the stability I needed and I was grateful to be enrolled at the campus”, said Sheppherd about Premier High School of Beaumont.

After learning of their interest in careers in the military Hadnot used his connections with the local Army recruiter to help these students learn about the careers offered to them if they stayed in school. . “It’s easy to say that things will be okay; we actually guided them to understand that you can’t give up when the chips appear to be down,” said Hadnot. “We taught them to keep at it until you get it.”

“These two young ladies had it very rough and I am proud of the choices they made in spite of their obstacles,” said Hadnot, “We are all very proud of them.”

Both students, Montgomery and Sheppherd, have now passed their TAKS test and are successfully enlist in the United States Army. Montgomery is now stationed in North Carolina and Sheppherd is stationed in South Korea.

Their courage and determination, partnered with the devoted staff of Premier along with Mr. Hadnot, changed the course of their lives. “I couldn’t bear to see these young ladies give up on life. We dug in the trenches and not just talked the talk; we walked with these ladies and saw their success” said Hadnot.

Because of the example set by Mr. Hadnot by going the extra mile for his students, these remarkable young ladies are now going the extra mile for their country by actively serving and protecting us in the United States Army.