Among the faded black-and-white pictures and newspaper stories there is Ray, about age 16, standing in front of his West Livingston Street home, built by his stepfather. He stands at attention.

At Eagle Academy, it's 78 percent, with 100 accepted into colleges. "People don't see the greatness that lies within boys of color. They are boys; they are kids, just like any other kid in America.

The black-and-white hawk-eagle is a little-researched and poorly known species in Mexico, where scientists have described it as a “ghost” because of the sheer scarcity of sightings.