TAMPA, Fla. — Hard work paid off for eight students at Chamberlain High School in Tampa.
"It means so much to me," senior Kiyana Torres said. "It makes me feel loved, like, by many people."
Torres was one of the students rewarded with new laptops from the Hillsborough County Clerk of Court Cindy Stuart.
The girls are part of the school district's EmpowHer2 program, which aims to help girls struggling with attendance, behavior or academics succeed through mentorship.
The laptops are an effort to remove any barriers for students and help them excel.
"To be heard is big for girls of poverty, trauma", Lanita Lucas, founder of the group, said.
EmpowHer2 started just before the COVID-19 pandemic hit and currently has 26 students participating, Lucas said.
Lucas also attended Hillsborough County Schools, including Chamberlain High. She said she struggled with poverty growing up under a single mother, but her talents in basketball allowed her the opportunity to attend college.
Now, she's using her experiences to help girls navigate school and life afterward.
Lucas also serves as a supervisor for Family and Community Engagement for Transformation Network Schools within Hillsborough County Public Schools.
"I don't look at it as work. I look at it as doing something to change the world," Lucas said.
Lucas said the laptops don't just serve as a tool for education. It makes it easier for them to apply for jobs or college, or may help their own parents.
Since her program's launch, the participants were also able to travel to Atlanta, Georgia, and sightsee colleges. It was their first time getting on a plane.
"You are the future. You are the ones who will be taking care of us, so we have to buy in, we have to move motivate, and make sure that you're okay, uplifted, inspired." Lucas told the group.
Torres said she felt she had no one to speak with until meeting Lucas.
She dreams of becoming a pediatric nurse someday, but for now, she's busy also taking up college courses and serving as president of her school's National Honor Society chapter.
"I just hope every girl can have an opportunity like this," Torres said. "I just hope we can bring it to more and more schools."
More laptops will be available for students who make it on the honor roll the following semester.