Letter to Peers

Some comments from the kids who attended to Serento Academy We asked the students at Serento Academy what they would share with someone who was considering going to a sober high school. Turns out they had a lot to say. These are their words.

• I first started using drugs as a child; I was only twelve years old. The more I used the worse my problems got. I was unable to stop and knew I was addicted. Serento Academy and Narcotics Anonymous (NA) saved my life.


• Serento Academy had so may good effects on my recovery. It gave me individual counseling and two NA meetings a week. You get mor help and support with saying sober and there’s no pressure to use.


• Coming to Serento Academy was a very positive experience. I know how strange it must sound, a “Sober High School.” I mean, who would want to go to a place like that. But I’m an addict. If you are considering staying sober, this is the place to be.


• Serento Academy is much more than people assume it to be . Coming to this school was the best decision I have ever made and it is also very good for my recovery. At the Academy we do educational things, fun and serious things too. We’re learning photography. We published a book of our own poetry. We do a lot.


• I never even went to school before Serento Academy, I skipped as much as I could. I thought school was boring or too hard without the help of drugs to speed it up. Here, at the Academy, we do all sorts of things that make school exciting. We work with an artist who is teaching us photography. We have small classes for the subjects. The teachers give us the time and attention we need to get the work done.


• When I first got out of rehab I wanted to stay as far away from my old friends as I possibly could. I knew if I were to hang out with them I would go right back to my old ways. Serento Academy is a great place because all of the students are clean and sober. It made it much easier for me to stay away from my old friends and make new ones.


• I’m a seventeen year old drug addict. My live was pretty good until I got my first boyfriend at the age of fifteen. We were “in love. . .” that ‘s what I thought. We ended up staying together for a year and a half. After our terrible breakup I thought using would help me through it. I started drinking, smoking, taking pills and using hard drugs every day. I was slowly killing myself and I didn’t care. This school saved my life.


• I did drugs to cover up my pain. Serento Academy has helped me not just with my school work, but with my recovery too. I hope your read this and consider coming to the Academy because we’re all alike, all on the same level. Most likely we could relate to one another and remember life has so much more to offer than drugs and alcohol.


• I never thought during my addiction that I would wind up in a juvenile detention center. Maybe I was having fun during my addiction, but when I got clean I started to think about my future. I go to Serento Academy now which has so much to offer you, a new lifestyle and new opportunities.


• The teachers here really understand. They work with you if you don’t understand something. We each have an individual counselor we see every week. My counselor is here to talk even if it’s not about addiction.


• Think about it. How long would you be able to stay sober in your old school? Here at Serento Academy I’m around positive people and I don’t have the temptation.


• We help each other and work together on staying sober. We want to help you stay sober too so you can live your life without having to get high.