A Texas girl who was born in prison is set to enter Harvard in the fall after graduating third in her class – ‘raving reader’ lived with single father while her mother was behind bars
- Sky Castner, 18, of Montgomery County, was born in the Galveston County Jail because her mother was incarcerated at the time of her birth
- Despite her difficult beginnings, Castner will graduate from Conroe High School third in her class and will go to Harvard in the fall to study law
- The young teenager credits her mentor Mona Hamby for her success. Castner and Hamby met when the graduate was in elementary school
A prison-born Texas girl will enter Harvard University after graduating third in her class.
Sky Castner, 18, of Montgomery County, was born in the Galveston County Jail because her mother was incarcerated at the time of her birth. Her father picked her up from the county jail and raised her as a single father.
“I was born in prison,” reads the first line of her application letter to Harvard, which she co-wrote with a Boston University professor.
“He helped me tell my story in the best possible way,” she told the Houston Chronicle.
Despite her difficult beginnings, Castner will graduate third in her class from Conroe High School, north of Houston, and will go to Harvard in the fall to study law.
Sky Castner, 18, of Montgomery County, was born in the Galveston County Jail because her mother was incarcerated at the time of her birth. Her father picked her up from the county jail and raised her as a single father
“I was born in prison,” reads the first line of her Harvard application letter
Despite her difficult beginnings, Castner will graduate third in her class from Conroe High School, north of Houston
The young teenager owes her success to her mentor, Mona Hamby, who has nothing to do with school. Castner and Hamby met when the graduate was in elementary school at Reaves Elementary School.
The young girl was a voracious reader and staff thought she would benefit from CISD’s Project Mentor program, which matches children in need of a little love with an adult who will help them with mentoring and mentoring.
“I got an essay on her.” Her heroine was Rosa Parks, her favorite food was Dairy Queen tacos, and she enjoyed reading. “I thought that sounded like a bright little girl,” Hamby told the Houston Chronicle. “I still have the paper today.”
“She told me, ‘I was in prison.’ I said, ‘No, that can’t be,'” the mentor continued. “I knew I couldn’t just have lunch with this kid once a week, she needed more.”
Castner appears on Hamby’s Facebook page several times and the mentor often gushed about the teenager and how proud she was.
Hamby was there when Castner first got glasses and needed a haircut, even taking her to the Harvard campus.
The young girl was a voracious reader and staff thought she would benefit from CISD’s Project Mentor program, which matches children in need of a little love with an adult who will help them with mentoring and mentoring
The young teenager credits her mentor Mona Hamby for her success. Castner and Hamby met when the graduate was in elementary school at Reaves Elementary School
“After that trip, I saw her love for school grow,” she told the Chronicle.
Others in the community helped her experience things like summer camp.
“It was a very different environment from what I grew up in, and that’s not a bad thing,” the 2023 graduate told the Chronicle. “Everything Mona taught me was very valuable, just like everything I went through before Mona was very valuable.”
Castner worked hard to get all the A’s and enrolled in the Academy of Health and Science Professions at Conroe High School to prepare for attending the prestigious university.
Castner graduated from Conroe High School on Thursday.