Meet the Class of 2026: Reanna Ward Reclaims Her Education
Reanna Ward attended 62 different schools during her 9 years in the foster system before dropping out of high school.
“I always tried to focus on getting A’s and B’s because my grades were one of the only things I could control in my life,” Reanna said. “But, I was only at a school for 1-2 months, and then it was starting over with new curriculum and everything was different.”
Reanna shared that by the time she reached 7th grade, she already had doubts that she would make it through high school.
She started CBK Charter after 8th grade, but dropped out after giving birth to her daughter. A son who followed soon after redirected her focus to being a full-time parent.
At age 21, Reanna remembered the CBK Charter program but didn’t think they took students after age 18.
“I found out that they did serve older students and filled out the application right away. Two days later, I got a call, and I was enrolled.”
Riverside County Office of Education Specialized Academic Instructor Brandy Reeves was the first to reconnect with Reanna.
“When I first met Reanna, I was so impressed by her strength and determination. The more she opened up to me about her story, the more impressed I was. She has taken all she has gone through and turned it into her purpose,” Brandy Reeves said. “She always did more than she was asked, and showed up determined to graduate. I have a lot of respect for Reanna and know she will be successful in everything she sets her mind to accomplishing.”
On April 29, 2026, Reanna was honored as one of the top charter school graduates from the CBK Charter Program at the 2nd Annual Exceptional Scholar Awards hosted by the Riverside County Office of Education. At the event, Reanna was one of 13 students who also received a $1,000 Barbara Hale Exceptional Scholar scholarship to continue her education.
“I was surprised to receive the award,” Reanna said at the event. “The last time I received an award for my education must have been in the first or second grade.”
Reanna regularly shares about her life experiences, including at her internship for a non-profit organization that serves foster youth in Los Angeles.
“Speaking about my experience is not too hard. I tell people not to give up. No matter how impossible it feels now. Nothing is impossible,” Reanna said. “I wish somebody would have told me not to give up. I think I could have graduated even before 18 with the grit that I have.”
Reanna’s career goal is to become a lawyer to provide the support that she didn’t have. She is currently working with students with disabilities and is nearing completion of an internship. She has already completed three college classes and earned a certificate in substance abuse counseling.
“I want to show my kids that no matter what they go through, with all the struggles, there is always a choice,” Reanna said. “It’s your will. It’s always up to you. You truly can do whatever you set your mind to if you put in the work to get what you want.”
As part of her scholarship application, Reanna wrote a concise, but powerful essay recapping her story. Here is Reanna Ward in her own words:
The Unfinished Chapter: Reclaiming My Education
By Reanna Ward
For most people, high school is a four-year blur of lockers and pep rallies that ends with a cap, a gown, and a clear path forward. For me, education wasn't a path; it was a maze I spent nearly a decade trying to navigate. From the age of nine until I turned eighteen, I was a passenger in "the system". While other kids were focused on extracurriculars, I was focused on survival, moving through a cycle of instability that made the classroom feel like a secondary world. When I turned eighteen, the safety net vanished. I didn't graduate; I simply "aged out," tossed into a world I wasn't prepared for with nothing but a transcript of incomplete dreams.
The three years that followed were a grueling masterclass in struggle. Trying to find stability without a high school diploma is like building a house on quicksand. I bounced between low-wage jobs and uncertain living situations, feeling the weight of that missing piece of paper every single day. The world tends to look at a twenty-yearold without a diploma as a finished story-a statistic of a system that failed. But inside, a different narrative was forming. I began to realize that the same grit that kept me alive in the system could be harnessed to get me out of the cycle of poverty.
At twenty-one, I walked back into the world of education. The decision felt heavy; I was older than the students and haunted by the years I had lost. When I sat down with an advisor, they looked at my records and gave me a sobering estimate: "It's going to take you at least two years to finish your requirements." To them, I was a long-term project. They saw the gaps in my history, but they didn't see the fire stoked by three years of hardship.
I discovered a version of myself I never knew existed in my teens. I was outgoing, vocal about my needs, and possessed a relentless determination. I treated my schoolwork like a mission. The instability of my past became my greatest motivator; I knew exactly what was at stake. I didn't just show up; I dominated the curriculum. I asked questions and refused to let a single assignment slide. The two-year timeline the "experts" gave me began to crumble under the weight of my pace. I wasn't just passing; I was sprinting. In the end, it didn't take me two years. It didn't even take me one. In less than a year, I stood where I was told I might never stand.
Waiting to hold my diploma at twenty-one feels so much different from how it would have at eighteen. It wasn't just a certificate of completion; it was a badge of reclamation. My narrative didn't end when the system gave up on me. Instead, I picked up the pen and wrote a final chapter that proved my worth was never defined by others' timelines, but by my own refusal to quit.