Urban school students have endured a challenging year dealing with a global pandemic but they have demonstrated resilience and perseverance time and again. The students featured here - recent graduates in the Class of 2021 - have overcome seemingly insurmountable odds and have reached the stratosphere of academic excellence.

True Grit in Fresno: One Graduate’s Journey 

Oakland Student Is High School’s First Black Male Valediction

Palm Beach Student Overcomes Grief

Newark Student Gets Accepted to Seven Ivy League Schools

Minneapolis Student Didn’t Let Language Barrier Deter Her

El Paso Senior Headed to West Point

Richmond Valedictorian Aims to Become a Teacher