Albertville Teen Rises Above His Childhood

Jaden Reinking is a 17-year-old with a story. The first 10 years of his life were not happy ones.

“Him and his sister went between my house and their dad's,” mom Lisa Reinking said.

The time spent at his father's was not the stuff that builds great memories, Instead, Jaden often found himself in hiding.

“My dad did a lot of different drugs, meth, aerosol cans,” Jaden said. “He was always living in rundown places and there was a lot of abuse.”

Jaden particularly recalls a situation when he was just 9-years-old. “My uncle and I walked into the apartment, and there was a pizza in the oven. So we took it out and ate it. [My dad] was real mad, chased me down the hall and started punching me.”

A pattern of abuse continued after that. 

“I don’t have any good memories, I don’t even remember school back then,” Jaden said. “I just remember bad things.”

Finally, when Jaden was between 10 and 11, the courts finally granted his mom Lisa full custody and no more visits remained. Jaden and younger sister, Saigea, left behind two half-brothers, who later were also taken from their biological dad and put up for adoption.

Jaden's father went on to have one more child, who was also taken away. The little girl is currently living with Lisa and Jaden's new stepdad, Troy.

“We’ve had Ebbie [now 2] for the last eight months, and her adoption should be final before the holidays,” Lisa said.

Now 17 and a senior at St. Michael/Albertville’s Knights Academy, Jaden has turned the anger and upset from his childhood into something positive.

“In a lot of ways, I have my dad to thank. Because of what I went through, I could never imagine treating others the way he treated me and our family,” Jaden said. "My mom is my role model," he added.

“I’m proud,” Lisa said with a giant smile.

Last spring, Jaden was in his Project Based Learning class [PBL] and heard a set of chords that he really liked. He started writing a rap, telling his story to go along with it and found his passion.

“My mom called and bought the rights to the music so I could make a video, and so I did,”

Meanwhile, Jaden found his new passion lies in video production, and counts himself lucky that he can go to school and work on projects he loves. “I go to an amazing school where teachers really understand me,” Jaden said. “I know I couldn’t have done this project without the support of Craig Wigness.”

Lisa sent the video to the Institute of Production and Recording in Minneapolis. Currently the admissions staff there is looking into possible scholarships for Jaden.

While Jaden could have used his father's drug addiction and abusive behavior as a crutch, or followed in his footsteps, he didn’t. He’s chosen to take his rough childhood and share his story and try to help others.

So what does he have to tell those going through something similar?

"You need to tell somebody [about the abuse], and keep telling somebody,”

Lisa quickly follows, “And don’t give up. Stay strong. Sooner or later people will start believing you.”