From near-dropout to PNG's 'Shining Star' student

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  • Judge Brad Burnett and Aslynn Achord pose with PNGHS staff and administrators at the 'Shining Star' ceremony May 18.
    Judge Brad Burnett and Aslynn Achord pose with PNGHS staff and administrators at the 'Shining Star' ceremony May 18.
  • Justice of the Peace Precinct 7 Judge Brad Burnett poses with PNGHS senior Aslynn Achord, the 19th-annual recipient of the 'Shining Star' award.
    Justice of the Peace Precinct 7 Judge Brad Burnett poses with PNGHS senior Aslynn Achord, the 19th-annual recipient of the 'Shining Star' award.
  • ‘Her smile is infectious, and today when I see her, she exudes joy. The entire high school staff views Aslynn’s graduation as one of our most important victories. She made the changes, but the impact is felt by us all,’ says Jon Deckert, director of student activities at PNGHS.
    ‘Her smile is infectious, and today when I see her, she exudes joy. The entire high school staff views Aslynn’s graduation as one of our most important victories. She made the changes, but the impact is felt by us all,’ says Jon Deckert, director of student activities at PNGHS.
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Rewarding a teenager who, despite her previous trajectory inspired by drug use and ill-intentioned friends, is set to graduate high school while working in the fast food industry to pay for an apartment, a local judge continued his 19-year tradition of highlighting Mid-County’s “Shining Stars.”

According to her teachers and administrators at Port Neches-Groves High School (PNGHS), Aslynn Achord is the epitome of a success story.

“Aslynn’s freshman and sophomore years were full of adversity,” said Jon Deckert, PNG director of student activities. “Out of the group of friends she started with at PNGHS, she is the only one who is graduating. Aslynn is a miracle.”

Deckert, who wrote Achord’s nomination letter, said watching her transformation has been incredible, so much so that he hardly recognized the joyous, successful senior, compared to her as an underclassman.

”She has changed from a lost, unhappy little girl into the smiling treasure we see each school day,” he wrote in his letter. “She is a true diamond among her peers.”

Aslynn started off high school “going down the wrong path,” according to Brett McPhatter, PNGHS curriculum coordinator. She was able to push aside her drug use and leave a group of friends who continuously forced her into “bad” situations, according to the administrator.

“Aslynn’s transformation from the beginning of her freshman year to today is nothing less than remarkable,” he wrote in his recommendation letter. “Aslynn is no longer that 14-year-old freshman who’s collected over 23 referrals and a couple of AEC placements. She isn’t that sophomore student who repeated the course, nor is she the junior who nearly thought about quitting school altogether.”

“I do not know how she does it,” Deckert said. “She looks like a senior in high school but, actually, she is an adult in high school. She pays bills, takes care of her needs like household chores and personal hygiene, gets herself to school on time, and is passing all her classes. Her smile is infectious, and today when I see her, she exudes joy.”

“I enjoy sharing these successful stories to motivate younger students and those who have lost their way,” said Judge Brad Burnett, who serves as justice of the peace for Precinct 7. “Our winner today has faced many obstacles, but the encouragement and the belief from our faculty and our school board people has persevered, and she will graduate this year.”

Judge Burnett’s Shining Star initiative, what he says is the most vital work done in his office, rewarded Achord’s perseverance through adversity with more than just a nameplate on a plaque.

Philpott Toyota General Manager Darren Granger surprised the soon-to-be high school graduate with a job opportunity working as a lubricant technician. Additionally, the company will arrange an apprenticeship for the teen to drive her love for cars further.

And she won’t be going to work or automotive school empty-handed, as school officials presented her with $800 worth of tools essential to her future trade.

Achord said her goal once she graduates high school is to learn “everything” there is to know about cars, telling The Examiner, “I’ve helped my dad with some things, like changing the oil and changing the tires.”

From that moment as an early teen and from having to fix issues with her own car, Achord said she aspired to work in the automotive industry, summarizing her goals by saying, “I want to know how to do everything, and I would enjoy knowing how to do everything.”

“I have seen many students make big transformations in the last few years,” Burnett said. “Many ‘Shining Star’ success stories really help motivate others to stay in school and reach their potential. They all make us proud, from receiving a heroic certificate of commendation by the U.S. Marines to moving on and excelling in college or their job. Each accomplishment is just as significant.

“Port Neches-Groves recipient, Aslynn Achord has triumphed over hardships and will be very successful, you just watch and see!”