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Fifth grader, Amber Powell makes straight A’s. She’s one of the top students at McIntire Elementary in Fulton, Missouri. She told her father Illo Powell that she must get good grades to get to college, to reach her goal: To buy a house for the three of them. “We live in a mobile home because the houses were like $50,000,” she says. Father Illo Powell works at Jiffy Lube vacuuming cars. Next door to the Jiffy Lube, Mother Terrie Powell is an assistant manager at the Breaktime gas station. They couldn’t afford to buy a house.
Both parents are equally proud of Amber’s ambitions. They say they don’t know where it came from. Illo never graduated from high school. Terrie never studied beyond high school. Illo admits that he looks to her for answers, such as, the spelling of some words. “She’s just the best kid anyone could ask for,” he says.

"Getting “A’s” Against the Odds"


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Fifth grader, Amber Powell makes straight A’s. She’s one of the top students at McIntire Elementary in Fulton, Missouri. She told her father Illo Powell that she must get good grades to get to college, to reach her goal: To buy a house for the three of them. “We live in a mobile home because the houses were like $50,000,” she says. Father Illo Powell works at Jiffy Lube vacuuming cars. Next door to the Jiffy Lube, Mother Terrie Powell is an assistant manager at the Breaktime gas station. They couldn’t afford to buy a house. Both parents are equally proud of Amber’s ambitions. They say they don’t know where it came from. Illo never graduated from high school. Terrie never studied beyond high school. Illo admits that he looks to her for answers, such as, the spelling of some words. “She’s just the best kid anyone could ask for,” he says.