Before Thursday, Jose Ortiz couldn't remember his last day off from work.

By most any standards, he's busy.

As his 19th birthday arrived last week, Ortiz finally took a break to spend time with his family. The time off is overdue. In addition to working two jobs totaling about 45 hours a week, Ortiz is also a student at Mitchell's Second Chance High.

He's a unique teenager, but he says the heavy workload is a must. His father is sick and cannot work, and Ortiz feels it's his duty to provide for his family.

School to work - school to work - and repeat.

His mentors say he doesn't make excuses or complain, and that's what makes his story so special.

"When Jose came to Second Chance during the second semester of his sophomore year, immediately one could tell he was an old soul," wrote Lisa Neugebauer, a teacher at Second Chance. "He was very respectful, hardworking and appeared mature way beyond his years."

But Ortiz believes the community of Mitchell has aided him to persevere in life. If it wasn't for Mitchell, he'd be a high school dropout.

"There are days I don't want to go to work because I'm tired," he said. "If I don't go, there's no job, and then we won't make it."

Ortiz just locating to Mitchell is special in itself.

His father left Guatemala and moved to New Jersey in 1994. Jose's mother left their family two months after he was born, and he doesn't know much about her.

His father took him and his siblings to South Dakota because there's "too much violence in New Jersey," so they moved to Huron in 2013. There, Jose had three jobs - delivering newspapers, working at Dairy Queen and working at a nursing home.

Again, though, Huron wasn't the right fit, and Mitchell was nearby.

At age 15 was more hardship for Ortiz and his family. His father was diagnosed with Lupus, an autoimmune disease. Ortiz had considered dropping out of Mitchell schools altogether to focus on work. His attendance and grades were slipping, but Shane Thill, assistant principal at Mitchell High School and director of Second Chance, wouldn't let him quit.

Second Chance started in 1993 with eight students in the hopes to give them a second chance at attaining a high school diploma. In the past five years, Second Chance has had between 90 and 100 students annually.

It was because of Ortiz's age and previously poor school attendance that he was a good fit for Second Chance, he said.

"I am just thankful our school district and community sees the importance and value of Second Chance High," Thill said. "Because of that type of support, Jose is getting the opportunity to change his outcome in life.

"Jose is always the first one to volunteer, and he never complains when he has to help his family out. I don't think there would be too many teenagers that would be willing to sacrifice their wants and needs to help out their family like Jose has."

With flexible schooling at Second Chance, Ortiz has caught back up and his grades improved. And he was able to continue his busy work schedule. In Mitchell, he works at County Fair Food Store and McDonald's.

"Jose is an outstanding young man," said Justin Luther, store president at County Fair. "Not only does he stand out, but he doesn't use the cards life dealt to him as an excuse. That's not something you see much in adults, let alone someone his age."

Ortiz, a senior, plans to join the Army after graduation and hopes someday to return to Mitchell to be a policeman.

Recently, he was recognized by the Mitchell Exchange Club with a $1,000 scholarship through the A.C.E. Award program for accomplishments in and out of the classroom. The A.C.E. Award, which stands for "Accepting the Challenges of Excellence," is an award that recognizes high school students who have had to overcome great physical, emotional or social obstacles and are now eligible for high school graduation.

His essay for the scholarship showed his gratitude toward the community, his teachers and his employers.

"I am the bread winner in my house; and there are days in which I have to decide whether I want to buy something for myself, or pay the electric bill, or buy my grandma's medicine," he wrote. "I have worked two jobs since age fourteen in order to sustain my family. My greatest accomplishment is not giving up and now having hope-and goal-to graduate high school."