Out of the dark, into the light: How a local highschooler is making profound impacts across the state, nation

Originally published on The Chronicle News – April 4th, 2024

T’Naus Nieto

The Chronicle-News

During the pandemic and after being bullied and struggling with ADHD, poor grades and depression, Jazlyn Grandomcar, or Jaz, reached out to her mother and together the two researched alternative educational options.

The decision changed Jaz’s outlook on education and altered the trajectory of her entire educational path, as she has found great success and a bright future.

Jaz is now a junior in high school at Destinations Career Academy of Colorado. A once shy young woman, she is now a confident speaker with outstanding grades, traveling to represent her school in state competitions and attending national leadership conferences.

Jaz is an advocate for students and education. She’s a SkillsUSA (a national organization) Chapter President, a state officer parliamentarian for Colorado and even attended the Washington Leadership Training Institute in Washington, D.C. All this and she still finds time to do volunteer work.

The competitions vary widely and include interviewing skills, technology, art, public speaking, and much more. As a state representative, Jaz doesn’t compete in a specific category and must show her versatility.

“Jaz works extremely hard in school. She’s an amazing role model for other students. She’s very diversified. She’s not afraid to take classes in many different areas. She has experience and success,” Executive Director of CODCA Teri Cady said. “What really makes her unique is her strong ability in public speaking and advocacy.

Jaz spoke about her journey and how difficult school was for her growing up in an environment where she felt teachers didn’t understand her and students harassed, shunned and bullied her.

“I really struggled with making friends. I was one of those people [who was] weird. That’s what they called me, ‘weird,’ not the type of person to be around or involved with… It was like I was never noticed, like I was in a little box, hidden, and I couldn’t get out because I was in that darkness.”

When asked if she had friends, Jaz said, “I had a really small group, but yet those friends would be fake, like stab me in the back and leave, and then it would become a smaller group, until it became just one person who was my friend… I was always the person who would sit by myself for lunch, alone at my desk, because they thought I was like the plague. They wouldn’t even sit by me even if the desks were together… Kids would say, ‘You’re not the girl I want to be seen with.’ I always felt alone, and I would kind of isolate myself to my room, and I went into a very dark place and grew depression.”

Jaz mentioned that one of the things she did to help her work through her depression and anxiety was to consistently write in her journal. She said, “Because of how people were treating me, I didn’t understand what to do… That’s why I would write in my journal because it calmed me down to talk about my feelings instead of letting it out on someone.”

Jaz spoke about how students mocked her and made fun of her, how teachers didn’t understand her or how she learns, handing her pieces of paper and expecting her to complete the tasks and feeling like they were never there for her. She mentioned having ADHD and being made fun of for not paying attention in class.

According to the CDC, some school schedules and formats may not be conducive for students with ADHD who have a hinderance of executive function and undergo states of low focus. However, ADHD could also have states of hyperfocus when a person is interested in a distraction-free environment. The CDC also mentions ways for teachers to communicate with students with ADHD and ways for them to understand the students better and how they learn.

“Executive function challenges are often mistaken for disobedience, laziness, defiance, or apathy,” Chris Zeigler Dendy, M.S., said. 

The format at CODCA, may have been a factor to Jaz’s success, that, and of course, her burning ambition to achieve.

“I didn’t want to not focus. I didn’t want to have bad grades,” Jaz said. “I always wanted to be successful, and that’s why I work so hard now to make up for that.”

Jaz is now taking eight classes, training for competitions, advocating for students and volunteering to help her community. She credits the flexibility of her classes, which gives her a schedule to complete assignments at her own pace, with the free time to accomplish much more. She has ambitions for higher education, to ‘help the world,’ and to become a minister.

Jaz’s mother, Elizabeth Baudino, said, “Every day, I’m amazed by the person my child is becoming. She has been through so much and has overcome obstacles that made her stronger. She is a [extraordinary] young lady. Ever since she was a baby, she has had a great personality that has grown with her. That has made her an amazing and unique young lady. I’m so very proud that I can call her mine.”

Jaz said, “Even though you’re walking every day through obstacles, through those arrows shooting at you, always get up, stand high, stand proud, because you are unique for you. You can always get through it with your accomplishments, improvements, and with how you think. With a positive mind, you could do anything that is possible.”

To learn more about Destinations Career Academy of Colorado, visit https://codca.k12.com/.