Drake Institute Zak's Story
I
t’s been 8 ½ years since my son Zachary went through the Drake Institute program. He was 12 years old and in the 7th grade. Zak was a very smart young man but the older he got the more he really struggle with school and discipline. Not because he couldn’t do the work but because he could not manage the tasks. It was very difficult to give Zak instruction and teach him things because he had great difficulty staying on task. When he was younger we just figured he would grow out of it but the older he got the more difficult it was to deal with his inability to understand direction, discipline etc. It often seemed as though he was just being a bad kid, not listening and not taking instruction. Zak was not a hyper child, but we often referred to him as busy. He was antsy and often could not keep his hands to himself and would lose focus all the time. He needed to touch things and people unnecessarily. Loud areas like restaurants were often difficult for him. The mixed noises would really bother him and cause him to misbehave.
As Zak’s mom I knew he had problems but because Zak was not hyper I really felt as though I could give him the tools to be able to handle these issues. My husband, who is Zak’s step-dad also noticed Zak’s struggles and felt as though he needed help. We both would spend sleepless nights trying to figure out why we could not get through to him. We heard the advertisements for Drake Institute on the radio and a lot of what they said made sense to what we were dealing with at home. We went to Drake Institute for the free consultation and could not believe how much information they taught related to what we was going on with Zak.
Zak proceeded to attend the 40 sessions. As a family this became a new normal to fit these appointments into our lives. But we understood the importance of Zak going 3-4 times a week. We changed our lives and schedules around to accomplish the goal. Along the way my husband and I gained tools on how communicate better with him and help him use the tools he was learning. We made sure his little sister, grand-parents, aunts, uncles and teachers all understood the program and what they could do to help Zak as well. We all learned a lot about children with ADD and similar difficulties as well.
Zak proceeded to end middle school much better than he began. He went on to High School with much more confidence and an ability to truly understand how intelligent he was and had the tools to do his best. Below is a list of some things Zak was able to accomplish during his time in High School.
· GPA average 3.7-4.0
· Honor Roll - 2005-2008
· Scored above average on all Standardized Testing
· Outstanding Student-Citizenship 2005-2008
· Outstanding Achievement Award in Math 2008
· Football 2005-2009
· Varsity Football 2007-2009
· Scholar/Athlete Award Football-2008 & 2009
· Debate Team Teasurer-2007-2008
· Debate Team-President Senior year 2008-2009
· Forensic League/Superiority Awards for Debate 2008
· Mind Madness 2nd place 2008
· Volunteer for the Relay for Life 2005-2008
· Volunteer for Special Olympics 2008
· Traveled to Europe in Spring 2008 and 2009 (Munich, Berlin, Prague, Lucerne, London, France) with fellow students on an educational trip.
· Receive multiple acceptance letters from UC colleges
Zak is a Junior at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He made the Dean’s list his first year of college. He plans to do oversees studies his senior year. He is currently a staffer for the UC Santa Cruz Ski and Snowboard club. He has taken many snowboarding, river rafting and camping trips with the club. He also enjoys many of the inter-mural sports and has been a captain of several teams. He is also in a fraternity.
He is pursuing a degree in business and will then continue on to get his Master’s degree. He would like to combine his love of sports and numbers and work for an athletic team or sporting company as a CFO.
Over the years, often times when we are having a prideful moment, we will talk about what Drake did for Zak. We have shared Zak’s story with people and have seen other success story come out of Drake Institute as well. My nephew also went through the program at age 7. He is doing so well in 4th grade and we have really noticed a difference in his behavior.
I hope Zak’s story will inspire other families to go through the program for their children. Zak had potential to do great things. Drake Institute gave him the tools to accomplish them.
Sincerely,
Gayle Johnson
Proud and grateful mom
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