The 16-year-old sophomore was expelled after an incident at the school, but she’s getting a second chance to keep up with her peers thanks to a program at the Riley Hill Community Center.

Called Students Online for Success, the program is designed to give students expelled from the public schools an opportunity to finish their school work and rejoin their classmates the following year without having lost the entire year.

Beckwith is the first student to enter the program at the Riley Hill Center, although the program has operated in other parts of the county in the past.

Program coordinator Evelyn Lucas says the idea is to keep students on schedule to graduate by providing them with one-on-one support from teachers and from the business community.

Students Online for Success uses an interactive software program to allow students to keep up with class assignments and a licensed teacher works with the students on additional work.

For Beckwith, the program has reinforced the idea that she needs to work hard to succeed.

“These people have done their part, so I feel like I need to hold my end up and not let them down,” said the softspoken teenager.

Beckwith takes classes from 1-7 p.m. at the Riley Hill Center. Like a typical teenager, she says the hardest part of the program is getting up in time to make classes on time.

The center provides transportation for students to attend the program and Lucas said on-site technicians are available to ensure that the computer end of the operation is in working order.

When she’s not on the computer, Beckwith works with Amelia Royster, a Wake County teacher, in a one-on-one setting to read books and expand on the lessons she’s learning online.

Lucas says the program also includes an internship component that requires the student to work in a business setting during part of the program.

Even though the program is in its infancy at the Riley Hill Center, Lucas says securing internships for students will likely be the most challenging part of running the program.

“We need business people who are willing to bring the students ito their places of work and give them some experience in a work setting,” Lucas said.

Beckwith says she’s interested in working in an office setting. She’s willing to take on whatever tasks an employer sets for her.

Students are referred to the program by a counselor who thinks they may benefit from the opportunity to keep up with their schoolwork.

Beckwith said she and her mother met with the counselor to learn more about the program before she entered

“It sounded like something that I wanted to do,” Beckwith said.

So far, Lucas says, Beckwith has been a model student.

And, while Lucas and Riley Hill Community Life Center board member Amelia Dewberry know every student may not be as successful as Beckwith has been in the program’s early going, they have high hopes.

“The center’s mission is to improve the quality of life for people living in the community. We think this is one way we can do that,” said Dewberry.

Business owners interested in providing internship opportunities for students in the program can contact Lucas at 365-7897.