He didn’t think he’d graduate high school. Now, this Middletown teen is teaching others.

Last Updated 4 days by Amnon J. Jobi | Amnon Front Page

Leo Benitez pulls down on a table saw.

Despacito, he says. Despacito.

A few years ago, Benitez thought he wouldnt graduate high school. He spoke Spanish at home, and didnt have an interpreter at school.

I would feel a little bit left out, he said, remembering times other students would know the answer and he wouldnt.

Because he didnt understand the question.

I felt like I wasn’t as good as them, he said. I was falling down a bad track.

Benitez is only 17, but now he works as an instructional assistant at Marshall High School. He credits the nonprofit Self with helping him find a new path in construction.

It changed my whole life, he said. Without construction, I don’t know where I’d be.

The organization in Butler County partners with schools like Marshall to offer free training to low-income students.

I was one of those kids, said Chuck Hall, Marshall High School principal. And what we’re competing against is not each other, but we’re competing against crime and poverty.

In the county, there are more than 47,000 people living in poverty, according to U.S. Census data. Self, which stands for Supports to Encourage Low-income Families, is aimed at ending that cycle of poverty.

It’s not about these students are at-risk, Hall said. Show people some love, and they can move mountains.

Benitez is an example. Because now the school pays him to take other students to construction sites, training them on equipment and tools. He translates, too.

Everyone always helped me growing up, said Benitez. I just want to return the favor.