Former Gang Member Tells Cautionary Tale at Edmonds' Scriber Lake High

A 4.0 student at Edmonds’ Scriber Lake High -- who joined a gang at 12 -- has screened a documentary of juvenile offenders and brought in one of them to talk to students as part of his senior project.

Identified only as Brayan, the 17-year-old is the subject of an interesting story in The Seattle Times. Brayan’s first act as a gang member was to steal the purse of a woman in Everett at gunpoint.

He arrived in the region from Mexico City at the age of 10 and followed his cousin in joining the gang. After a screening before almost 200 students and staff and a talk, Brayan urged classmates to carefully consider the choices they make.

Scriber Lake is a small Edmonds School District "choice" high school for teens trying to make a fresh start. Bryan is part of a writing program at the school, working with a Seattle author on a book of personal essays titled, “We Are Absolutely Not Okay.”

He straightened out his life with the help of the writing class instructor, Marjie Bowker, and plans to attend Edmonds Community College in the fall.

To see the story, click here. (Please note that the Seattle Times web pages are now based on paid subscriptions, but users can access 15 free articles each month.)