Constructing a future: LEAD alumnus Zacore Hall finds path to success through construction trade after struggles with traditional education

Zacore Hall looks right at home among the steel beams and scaffolding that dot the landscape of Chancellor Avenue as crews continue work on a new apartment complex through the early August heat. The hard hat he wears seems like a natural extension of his frame - almost as if it was always meant for him.

However, Zacore’s career inclinations in construction were not always so apparent. Before he landed an internship at NRP Group, made possible through a grant from Prudential that increases access to career pathways, and became the mature young man that Field Superintendent Randy Winger described as “eager to learn,” Zacore was constantly involved in fights at school, which often led to suspension.

“I got suspended so many times that [the administrators] didn't want me there,” said Zacore. “They handled it the best way they could. They tried for as long as they could.” 

At the time, Zacore expressed how he felt about the conflicts and challenges he was facing through anger and aggression. He described himself during this time as “childish” and said he had a “naive mindset” - and the discipline policies at the two high schools he tried did not support him in changing how he dealt with these bouts of strong emotion. 

That was until he found out about LEAD Charter School - an alternative high school in Newark that implements the YouthBuild model of education combined with workforce development. 

While the atmosphere and support at LEAD was different than anything Zacore had experienced up until that point, he still fought his peers when he first enrolled and was eventually incarcerated. The path of progress is not always linear, and Zacore’s story is no different. However, once Zacore was confronted by LEAD’s Senior Vocational Instructor Terry Lang about his behavior, he knew he needed to change for the better. 

“I was super furious one day. I forgot what it was about. He pulled me aside and he told me ‘if you want to fight me, fight me right now.’ And I thought about it for a second. He cares,” he said. “If he didn’t care, he would look at me and let me continue to do whatever I was going to do. But instead…he took that action like a father figure.” 

Mr. Lang and the larger support system Zacore found at LEAD was what got him reconnected to school, but it was also what helped keep him engaged when life circumstances shifted. While in the process of earning his National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER) certification, Zacore became a father. This meant that the future he was constructing and the life he was transforming was no longer just for him - it was for his daughter.

Robert Clark, CEO of Newark Opportunity Youth Network (NOYN), the intermediary that manages both LEAD and YouthBuild Newark, shared that this is exactly the type of impact programs like this are designed to have - impact that spreads beyond the individual.

“What LEAD and YouthBuild gave to Zacore wasn’t just to Zacore - it was to his family - it was to his community,” said Clark. “He was able to become a father, to be present in his daughter’s life, and to provide for her through a career that helps improve the quality of life of those around him. The most important thing we can do for young people and for New Jersey is to ensure that less children grow up in poverty. Zacore is proof that it’s achievable.”

Zacore’s story represents what is possible when a young person is re-engaged with a school environment that is responsive to their needs. However, there are tens of thousands of students in New Jersey every year who disconnect from school and are never reengaged. In 2021 alone, more than 100,000 New Jersey students dropped out of high school. There are many different factors that impact student disconnection; young people in New Jersey (like youth across the country) experience situations that both push and pull them out of their school community. To shed light on the diverse experiences of school disconnection, NOYN is uplifting youth narratives and spreading awareness of this issue through a #BackToSchoolForWho campaign. New Jersey has the opportunity to take a step towards ensuring all students have the supports they need to graduate and thrive by passing A398, a piece of legislation that would create an Office of Dropout Prevention and Reengagement of Out-of-School Youth in the Department of Education, and the Student Dropout Prevention Task Force. This legislation could prevent youth disconnection, develop an understanding of the factors that lead to disconnection, and promote school reengagement for the over 100,000 young people who dropped out of high school last year, allowing them to reconnect to a school community and continue along their path to postsecondary success like Zacore. 

After graduating LEAD in 2020, Zacore worked his way up through the construction field and into NRP Group as Assistant Project Manager. His support-system has expanded since graduation and now includes his supervisors who recognize his potential as a leader. In fact, Winger said he would like to see Zacore become a field superintendent, just like him.  

“I think he has leadership characteristics,” Winger said. “I’m starting to watch individuals on this job come to him and he’s more than willing to take them by the hand and show them the areas to get us back on schedule and for [the] completion of a project.” 

Because he had access to the right programming and support, Zacore was empowered to transform himself, his family, and his community. Now he’s constructing not just new apartments, but a new future for himself and his daughter - one brick at a time.