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Hope Academy, a drug and alcohol recovery school adds new technology for students

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – An Indianapolis high school has added new technology to the school in an effort to help students get engaged in their learning.

All of the students have something in common, they are all on their road to recovery. Hope Academy is a drug and alcohol recovery high school for teens.

They have added virtual reality technology so students can see other parts of the world without ever stepping foot out of the classroom.

“It’s hard not to pay attention because it’s right in your face and it uses tactical way of learning,” said Hope Academy senior Sophi Herrick.

“You can go other places in the world that you may or may not go to ever,” said Diego Briones, who is in 10th grade.

Professors at the school hope this will engage students and help them learn.

“It gives us an alternative way to present the same idea or the same material but in a way that seems to engage them very very well,” said science teacher Boyd Gilbert.

Students know what it is like to struggle.

The school is designed to specifically target students who are on the road to becoming clean.

“This school, I can honestly say, saved my life. If I wasn’t going to this school I would still be out using,” Herrick said.

Herrick is 16 now and got hooked on drugs at an early age.

“I started using when I was about 11 or 12. I started with opiods and marijuana. It progressed to methanpetamine and heroin and crack cocaine and other drugs that basically completely devoured my life,” she said.

There are many students at the school just like her. To learn more about Hope Academy, click here.