holden high school student

You did it! See your support in action.

Close your eyes and imagine that you are a 14-year old with a genius-level ability to design, weld, and transform metal into just about anything. You even built a self-driving bicycle before you were old enough to get a driver’s license. You quickly befriend adults more than three times your age and routinely impress seasoned engineers with your ingenuity and passion for mechanical processes. However, your dyslexia/dysgraphia makes it challenging to read or write at a rudimentary level.

Now, open your eyes and meet Holden alumni, Austin. When he began his Holden journey as a 9th grader, he suffered from the damaging labels he received during his time in traditional school settings. He felt traumatized and thought school was just not for him.

We customized a curriculum that bolstered his literacy skills and nurtured his innate gifts and talents.

Our Life Skills courses empowered him to discover and pursue his passions. These classes helped him make connections at MythBusters and land a position at the Exploratorium. He became the youngest person on the staff to create exhibits!

We believe that learning happens in and out of the classroom. We award high school credit for knowledge and experience both inside and outside school.

Austin graduated from Holden in just 3.5 years (a semester early) due to the credit he received for his independent work.

By the time Austin was 20, he had landed a role as a Manufacturing Engineer developing self-driving semi-tractor trailer trucks for an Uber-owned organization. Today, he is 24, and he owns and operates a wildly successful machine shop.

Austin recently acknowledged the role Holden played in his life when he told us, “I would not have gotten through high school without Holden. Holden helped me write a kick-ass resume, practice interview techniques, and ultimately land the jobs I truly wanted. Thank you for giving me space and encouragement to pursue my own path. I wouldn’t be in the position I’m in now without that kind of support.”

Your donations make stories like Austin’s possible. Thank you! We rely on your tax-deductible gifts to help unique teens with learning differences succeed in school and life. Will you give today?