- Council of the Great City Schools
- 2020 Outstanding Urban School Graduates
2020 Outstanding Urban School Graduates
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2020 Outstanding Urban School Graduates
- A little girl running from war, to a high school class president
- A Wichita student overcomes obstacles to achieve success
- Guilford Graduate Ready to Begin the Rest of Her Life
- Getting Perspective, Gaining Strength and Giving Back
- A Future Doctor in the Making
- Dallas student headed to Texas A&M after overcoming homelessness to finish in top 15 of her class
- Charlotte Engineering Student Has Heart for his Community
- Living on His Own, Student Learns Resilience
- Twin sister, brother become valedictorian and salutatorian at Houston’s Worthing High School
- Louisville Student Achieves her Goals
A Wichita student overcomes obstacles to achieve success
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Tyrell Burns, a graduate of South High School in Wichita, Kansas has proven that success is possible through hard work and determination regardless of the challenges.
At a young age, Burns and his siblings were abandoned by their mother and left in the care of his father. One of his earliest childhood memories is sitting next to his father as he cried and told them their mother had died. The family lived in a Section 8 house for nearly 10 years and had their gas and electricity shut off multiple times, leaving them “heavy-hearted in the dark.” Sometimes there was little to eat but through it all,
Burns’ father showed him how to be resourceful, determined and compassionate. Those traits would serve Burns well as he struggled to overcome perceptions others had because of his socio-economic status.
Despite the challenges that could have derailed him, Burns graduated this year as one of South High School’s valedictorians with a perfect 4.0 GPA. He received two highly prestigious scholarships; was named a 2020 Rudd Scholar and a 2020 Koch Honors Scholar and plans to major in computer engineering at Wichita State University.
Reflecting back, Burns said "I now realize that challenges are what kept me from giving up hope, hope that I could chnage my life." Wichita Public Schools is #WPSProud of Tyrell Burns.