Three Springs’ Flores strives to be an example

Heidi Flores, 21, bounced around through alternative schools.

She attended Spokane Valley High School in the West Valley School District and that didn’t work out for her. She tried to get her GED as well, but that didn’t work either. She eventually dropped out to work full time.

“Working, for me, was more important than my education,” Flores said.

School was difficult for her. She was overweight and was teased a lot by her classmates. She eventually got into drugs, but she said she realized that lifestyle wasn’t going to lead her anywhere.

Everything changed for Flores when she had her son, Ryder, now 2. She decided it was time for her to finish her high school education. A close friend attended Three Springs in Cheney, so Flores talked to school counselor and teacher Lisa Staub.

“She enrolled in our school this fall and will have completed over two years’ worth of course work this year while continuing to raise her son and support herself by working full time,” Staub said. “She truly exemplifies the ‘can do’ spirit.”

That spirit has kept her going this past school year. She worked it out with her bosses at Northern Quest Casino to be able to do her homework when things are slow at the box office. She’s thinking about a future with opportunities and hoping her son learns from her mistakes.

She also thinks highly of the teachers at Three Springs. Flores said she got the sense that they really cared about her success and whether she would graduate.

“They want to see everybody walk,” Flores said.

With graduation day coming soon, Flores is feeling some relief of having accomplished something.

“It feels like a thousand-pound weight just lifted,” she said.

Flores said Staub would often present her as an example to the rest of the class. She likes to finish her work early and managed to complete 20 hours of service learning at the Salvation Army; she volunteered at the shelter, working with homeless women and playing with the children.

It was a project Flores could relate to. When she was younger, she and her family were homeless for three months. They lived in a camping trailer with no running water and no electricity. Finally, the family found a housing program and got back on their feet.

“I know how they felt,” Flores said.

She doesn’t mind talking about her road to graduation. She knows there are others going through similar situations.

“I want to be an example,” she said. “You can finish while you have a child.”

Now that she will graduate, Flores hopes to go to Spokane Falls Community College once Ryder gets a little older. She eventually wants to become a lawyer specializing in constitutional law and maybe one day become a judge, to speak for people who can’t speak for themselves.

“I wouldn’t change anything I’ve done in my life,” she said. “It’s (made me) the person that I am today.”