09/03/2026
For most of high school, Malaya was shy and unsure of what path she’d take after graduation. Today, she’s a driving force for change in her hometown of Elizabethton, Tennessee.
What changed? When Malaya stepped into her high school’s Community Improvement class, school became about more than just grades.
The class gave her a real question to tackle: How could the local bank better serve young people?
Malaya and her classmates turned that question into action—brainstorming ideas, researching what young people actually need, and presenting their recommendations directly to the bank’s president.
“This class taught me that my voice has a lot more power than I realized.”
Malaya's story is one chapter in a decade-long partnership between High School and XQ to create schools where students leave ready for whatever comes next.
Learn more about Elizabethton+XQ.
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