Give them an 'A' for accomplishment

The high school graduation season moves into high gear this week and next, as more than 50 schools across the region honor their graduating seniors.

Some are heading to places such as Harvard. Some barely slid through.

And some overcame extraordinary obstacles to earn their diplomas. Here are the stories of four such graduates from our region.

William Stracener

San Juan Choices Charter School

A campsite on the river. A tent in a field. A camper parked in a Wal-Mart lot.

These are the places William Stracener has called home during junior high and high school.

His teachers at Choices Charter School said they have never seen a student with more perseverance and heart. "There was never a complaint, never an excuse," said Mark Rakela, one of Stracener's teachers.

As a child, Stracener lived with his older brother and their mother, Susan Krantz, in a mobile home. Six years ago, the family became homeless.

When Stracener started seventh grade at Choices, the family was living along the American River. He ate breakfast at Maryhouse near the Loaves & Fishes complex north of downtown. He showered at the WIND Center for homeless teens. He studied at night with a flashlight.

Choices is an independent study school near Carmichael where students come weekly to meet with teachers. Stracener took light rail and buses to get there. Rakela always had burritos and big doses of encouragement waiting when his student arrived.

For almost four years, the family moved around, sometimes living on the property of relatives or friends. Krantz struggled with cancer and other disabilities and did her best to care for her sons.

"When the food was low, the children always ate first," she recalled. As time passed, Stracener came to understand the importance of education, and made it a priority.

"I just made sure I kept going," he said. "Stay positive, that's my thing."

During 10th grade, Stracener and his brother saved enough money from fast-food jobs to rent an apartment for the family. It was a sparse but welcome new address.

Now that he is graduating, Stracener hopes to find an apprenticeship and become an electrician. Last week, his mother bought him his first dress shirt and tie from a grocery outlet for $4.99. He will wear them under his cap and gown on Thursday when he graduates.

His teachers are so proud of him they asked him to speak at the ceremony. Stracener declined. It will be enough, he said, just to be there.

Ryan King

Oakmont High School

One moment, Ryan King was flying high, enjoying a senior year at Oakmont High School filled with fun, friends and victories in his favorite pastime, motocross racing.

The next, he lay unconscious after a racing accident in Reno. Doctors said he might not live.

A week from Friday, when King walks across the stage at Oakmont's graduation in Roseville, it will mark a triumph over pain and loss.

King was one of those kids always in motion, a soccer player, a snowboarder, a daredevil who jumped from rooftops. He loved racing motorcycles from an early age.

On Nov. 18, King was in Reno for a motocross competition that he hoped to win. In the second lap, he hit a section of the course with undulations, felt his suspension out of adjustment and flipped the motorcycle.

King's helmet cracked. His brain was injured. He broke bones in his face and lost sight in one eye.

He spent almost two and a half months in intensive care in Reno, where he went through surgeries, infections and agonizing pain. He couldn't talk, eat or walk. He struggled with memory and focus.

"It was so lonely," he recalled. "The nights were the worst, when I couldn't sleep."

Slowly, he healed. In late January, he moved to a rehabilitation program at the UC Davis Medical Center. In late February, he came home. In March he had his first real food since the accident: an In-N-Out burger. In April, he returned to school.

"It was awesome," he said. "I missed my friends so much."

With help from teachers, he managed to complete his senior requirements, English 12 and a government class.