L.A. Mission College Gets At-Risk Youth Back on Track
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From Daily News, Los Angeles (MCT)
For Javier Franco, it’s a long way from Columbus Street to precalculus at L.A. Mission College. A member of the notorious Columbus Street Gang, which just received an injunction because of street crimes including drug dealing and murder, the 27-year-old Panorama City student had served long stints in Folsom State Prison. Then he found moral guidance from a former prizefighter at Communities in Schools in North Hills, a welding job through an apprenticeship at Laborers’ Local 300 — and hope at the Sylmar community college that he could someday succeed. “Deep inside, the gang life, the prison life, wasn’t for me,” declared Franco, gazing out over the school that sent its soccer forward over many remedial math hurdles. “I always wanted much more.