Published TUESDAY August 26, 2025: 'Victory High: Teen Addicts Second Chance' Photography by ZUMA Partner newspaper The Tampa Bay Times award winning photo-journalist Jefferee Woo and story by Pulitzer winning writer Lane DeGregory: At Tampa Bay's Victory High, newly sober students get a second chance. 'What do you want?' the counselor asked the teens. 'Not today or tomorrow. For the rest of your life?' 'I want to be a therapist,' offered a boy in a backwards ball cap. Another longed to travel. 'Like, go to Alaska or maybe Hawaii.' A girl cocooned in a blanket stayed silent. 'OK,' the counselor said slowly. 'And getting there all depends on?' The students studied the floor, then one spoke softly. 'Staying sober.' Victory High is the only school in Florida where students have to have done drugs to get in. Most come right out of rehab, after becoming addicted to alcohol, overdosing, shooting heroin. After passing out in parking lots and waking in emergency rooms. Trying to kill themselves. All before they were old enough to buy a beer. Welcome to 'Victory High: Teen Addicts Second Chance'
© zReportage.com Issue #1002 Story of the Week: Published TUESDAY August 26, 2025: 'Victory High: Teen Addicts Second Chance' Photography by ZUMA Partner newspaper The Tampa Bay Times award winning photo-journalist Jefferee Woo and story by Pulitzer winning writer Lane DeGregory: At Tampa Bay's Victory High, newly sober students get a second chance. 'What do you want?' the counselor asked the teens. 'Not today or tomorrow. For the rest of your life?' 'I want to be a therapist,' offered a boy in a backwards ball cap. Another longed to travel. 'Like, go to Alaska or maybe Hawaii.' A girl cocooned in a blanket stayed silent. 'OK,' the counselor said slowly. 'And getting there all depends on?' The students studied the floor, then one spoke softly. 'Staying sober.' Victory High is the only school in Florida where students have to have done drugs to get in. Most come right out of rehab, after becoming addicted to alcohol, overdosing, shooting heroin. After passing out in parking lots and waking in emergency rooms. Trying to kill themselves. All before they were old enough to buy a beer. Welcome to 'Victory High: Teen Addicts Second Chance'

HAILEY, 17, a student from Tampa, closes her eyes during a group therapy session at Victory High School, Hillsborough campus in Tampa. Unlike at public schools, students at Victory come and go, sometimes returning to hospitals or rehab. Some stay days, others more than a year.
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TINA MILLER, founder and executive director, reacts, while she speaks to students about her 27th year of sobriety at Victory High School, Pasco campus in New Port Richey. Miller, 50, had seen too many teens suffer. As a counselor in youth detention centers, she watched them get treatment and detox in jail, then return to their high schools and relapse. When your dealer is in your calculus class, it's hard to keep clean.
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EVAN, 16, a student, studies and works on his homework at Victory High School, Hillsborough campus in Tampa. At Robinson High, Evan had been a good student, a star swimmer, until he started sneaking shots from his parents' liquor cabinet, meeting friends with stolen bottles beneath a bridge. When his mom saw the ribbon-cutting for Victory's new campus on TV, she enrolled Evan as the first Tampa student.
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TINA MILLER, founder and executive director, leads a group discussion with students at Victory High School, Pasco campus, in New Port Richey. With a patchwork of grants, Miller brought in therapists to teach ways to cope without substances. Students learned that humming helps calm the nervous system. Breathing through a straw brings down blood pressure.
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SKYE, 17, a mentor (L), interacts with TINA MILLER, founder and executive director, during a group exercise at Victory High School, Hillsborough campus in Tampa. All of the instructors at Victory High have struggled with addiction. Many were abused, abandoned, adopted. They understand.
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LAUREL MINTHORN, an operations manager, works on painting techniques during an art class at Victory High School, Pinellas County campus. Both of Laurels parents had been alcoholics, and she had grown up doing Xanax and Vicodin. By the time she was a teen, she was selling meth. She wanted to help kids like her.
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Signs are displayed to assist students during a group therapy session at Victory High School, Hillsborough campus in Tampa. At Tampa Bay's Victory High, newly sober students get a second chance. Across three campuses, students learn to cope without substances, while its founder pushes to stay afloat.
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Students HAILEY, 17 (L), and EVAN, 16, share a laugh together, during a lunch break at Victory High School, Pasco campus in New Port Richey.
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TINA MILLER, founder and executive director, leads a student discussion about the lyrics from 'Believe', by Blessing Offor, at Victory High School, Pasco campus in New Port Richey.
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EVAN, 16, a student, participates during a classroom discussion at Victory High School in Tampa. When a new campus of Victory High opened in Tampa last fall, Evan enrolled as the first student. He had tried virtual school but hated being alone.
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TINA MILLER, founder and executive director, holds her milestone coin, while speaks to students about her 27th year of sobriety at Victory High School, Pasco campus in New Port Richey. Instead of honoring birthdays, people at Victory High recognize rebirths: The day they got clean. Today was Miller's turn.
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TINA MILLER, founder and executive director, leads a group discussion with students at Victory High School, Pasco campus in New Port Richey. At Tampa Bay's Victory High, newly sober students get a second chance. Across three campuses, students learn to cope without substances.
© Jefferee Woo/Tampa Bay Times via ZUMA Press Wire

HAILEY, left, and SAMARRA, students, mingle together during a drumming therapy class at Victory High School, Pasco campus in New Port Richey. Last year, on Mother's Day, Samarra ate gummies she didn't know were laced with fentanyl. Her world started spinning. She fell into the tub and threw up. She couldn't move or scream. Her stepdad found her, no one knew how long later. Somehow, he shook her awake. He started searching for help. She enrolled at Victory in August.
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ZACH, a mentor, left, helps SAMARRA, a student, with decorating her graduation cap at Victory High School, Pinellas campus. So far, of 152 students who've passed through, 23 have earned diplomas. Eight have gone on to college.
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SAMARRA, a student, jokes around when she places wiggle eyes on her eyelids at Victory High School, Pinellas campus. Unlike at public schools, students at Victory come and go, sometimes returning to hospitals or rehab. Some stay days, others more than a year.
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SAMARRA, a student at Victory High School, sprays a horse called Freedom, as she prepares to wash it during a equine therapy class at Inspired Acres in Clearwater.
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A horse called Freedom pokes JAMES, a mentor, middle, while SAMARRA, a student (L) and ZACH, another mentor, get into a position where they can place a bridle on the horse, all while being blindfolded, during a equine therapy class at Inspired Acres in Clearwater.
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SAMARRA, a student, kisses a horse called Freedom, after she and two mentors finish doing an exercise on teamwork during a equine therapy class at Inspired Acres in Clearwater. Samarra's mom had left on her 11th birthday. Dad had gone to prison when she was 13. She had been living with her stepdad's mom, she called Nana, and going to Boca Ciega High, where she started vaping weed, then popping pills.
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Students mingle and dance during the Victory High School Prom at the Event Hall in Largo. Miller got grants to pay for a prom and summer camp, for the students to continue art and music therapy.
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TINA MILLER, founder and executive director, gathers students and faculty members together to take a picture together during the Victory High School Prom at the Event Hall in Largo.
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EVAN, a student, puts on his cap as he prepares to attend graduation ceremony at Calvary Chapel Worship Center in Pinellas Park.
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TINA MILLER, founder and executive director, gives a speech, while students and audience members listen during graduation ceremony at Calvary Chapel Worship Center in Pinellas Park. So far, of 152 students who've passed through, 23 have earned diplomas. Eight have gone on to college.
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TINA MILLER, founder and executive director, left, hugs SAMARRA, a student, after Samarra finishes giving a speech during graduation ceremony at Calvary Chapel Worship Center in Pinellas Park.
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Students stand up and prepare to take the stage to accept their diplomas during graduation ceremony at Calvary Chapel Worship Center in Pinellas Park. So far, of 152 students who've passed through the school, 23 have earned diplomas. Eight have gone on to college.
© Jefferee Woo/Tampa Bay Times via ZUMA Press Wire

SAMARRA, a student, adjusts her cap before the start of graduation ceremony at Calvary Chapel Worship Center in Pinellas Park.
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