Two students capture spotlight at back-to-school event

The message delivered by L.A. schools Supt. John Deasy was the main focus of attention Wednesday in an annual address at Hollywood High School, but a pair of students captured the imagination of an auditorium packed with campus principals, other managers, officials, parents and guests.

First there was recent Millikan Middle School graduate Kian Farahbakhshian, 13, who gave the pledge of allegiance after first being acknowledged for making the highest score possible on the Advanced Placement biology exam, which high schoolers typically take to be eligible for college credit. He also aced a college-entrance exam.

Kian exemplified the high-achieving students that attend and depend on the public schools in L.A. Unified, the state’s largest school system.

Demitrius Furlow, 33, represented the huge numbers of struggling students that the school system is hoping to reach sooner and more effectively. Furlow listed six district schools he attended, without ever earning a diploma. About half of district students don’t graduate on track after four years of high school. Furlow hadn’t managed it after 14 years.

“I took a journey into darkness,” Furlow told the audience, “making one mistake after another.”