Sheck, 18, drug-free for 10 months, is one of four recipients of $500 scholarships from the Action Parent & Teen Support Program. The Saugus youth wants to attend college and become a probation officer.

He says the support program helped him make that U-turn.

"I guess you can say it's kind of where I grew up," Sheck said. "When I went in there I didn't know any views on life. ... My mind wasn't clear, I was under the influence all the time, I didn't know what life is."

Sheck said that before getting clean, his marijuana use led to an addiction to methamphetamines and "anything and everything in between." His grades at Hart High suffered, and in 2002 he transferred to Bowman High, a continuation school.

The change helped, but he was still hooked. One morning, Sheck's parents woke him up to say they were sending him to a rehab center.

Action support group meetings followed, during which Sheck cracked the peer pressure that got him hooked on drugs in the first place. He gained a better relationship with his parents and a sense of responsibility.

Now he wants to be a probation officer to help others in trouble.

"He's truly turned his life around and I'm very proud of him," Rhonda Sheck said of her son.

Daniel Sheck, like the other scholarship winners, only learned the $500 was coming his way when his name was read at Bowman's graduation ceremony earlier this month.

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