( CNN ) -- Jesse Ray Beard said he was constantly in trouble , even when he behaved . It took being accused of the racially charged attempted murder of a white classmate in the Deep South to turn his life around . Living with attorney Alan Howard , right , has afforded Jesse Ray Beard a bevy of new experiences . Beard , 18 , now interns at a New York law firm as he prepares for his senior year next month at Canterbury School , a Connecticut prep academy where Beard is highly regarded among peers and teachers . `` I did n't change the way I act . I did n't do nothing different . It was just that I was at Canterbury instead of Jena , '' he said . `` It was like Jena was out to get me -- and not just me , but other people , too . '' If not for the controversy surrounding the Jena Six and the palpable racial tension in the Louisiana town , Beard never would have met the attorney who changed the course of Beard 's life by removing him from everything he knew . Watch Beard describe his reaction » . Alan Howard met Beard , the youngest of the African-American teens who made up the Jena Six , in January 2008 when he began representing him in a lawsuit filed by beating victim Justin Barker . The fight followed months of disquiet among Jena High School students , including off-campus skirmishes , a school arson and nooses hung from a campus tree . In September 2007 , thousands of protesters , alleging the teens were treated harshly because they were black , converged on middle Louisiana . Protesters were particularly angered at the jailing of Mychal Bell , one of the six , who was charged as an adult . Later in September , he was reclassified as a juvenile and released . The Jena Six were lionized and vilified ; donations for their defense poured in , as did threats on their lives . Howard said his first impression of Beard -- that he had `` tremendous character , tremendous resilience and tremendous potential '' -- was so strong he invited the teen to live with his family in New England . It 's been a tidal shift , Beard said , moving from a Louisiana town of 3,000 to Bedford , New York , a well-to-do city of 18,000 situated an hour north of the Big Apple . The biggest shock ? `` Where I 'm from in Jena , I think the only time it snowed is when I was 6 , and it was like 1 inch . '' Another difference , he said , is not living in a town where everyone associates him with one of the most controversial events in contemporary race relations . See history of Jena Six » . The Howards say Beard meshes seamlessly . Though he struggled with the curriculum at Canterbury -- a Catholic school in New Milford boasting a six-to-one student-teacher ratio -- he is seeing tutors and showing improvements . He spent the summer helping attorneys at Howard 's firm prepare for court cases and looks forward to his senior year as a three-sport athlete . Head football coach Ken Parson said he `` ca n't wait to unleash '' the 5-foot-11 , 215-pound Beard . Beard is a candidate for team captain , Parson said , and the coach hopes Beard 's leadership and `` quiet confidence '' will draw recruiters from Division I schools . Division II schools are already snooping around , he said . `` When he gets going , he 's like a freight train . He 's also got the softest pair of hands you could ever imagine on a high school football player and can make moves in the field like Barry Sanders , '' Parson said , invoking the Detroit Lions ' legendary running back . Though football , baseball and basketball are his preferred sports , Beard has picked up lacrosse from playing with Howard 's sons -- Nick , 14 , and Tommy , 11 -- and tennis from playing with Howard 's daughter , Jessie , 17 . She said his tennis skills are `` ridiculous . '' Other fresh experiences include snowboarding in Utah , surfing in Long Island , visiting the Hamptons and attending baseball games at Fenway Park and Yankee Stadium . Around the house , he 's a big brother , said Howard , whose children welcomed Beard immediately . `` My kids were the ones who said , 'If it means getting out of Jena , let him stay here , ' `` Howard said . `` My 14-year-old son said , 'He can share my room , ' and he does n't even let his 11-year-old brother in his room . '' Beard is prone to the same gaffes as any teenager , Jessie said , giggling as she recalled a time he replaced a box of snacks in the cabinet after finishing the last one . Her mother , Patti , left the box on his sneakers with a note : `` Would you like more of these ? '' `` He 's just another member of the family , '' Jessie said . `` Now , when people ask me how many brothers I have , I say three , not two . '' Beard said he could never be proud of his involvement with the Jena Six , but he believes God put him through tribulations to deliver him to a better place . `` I 'm not glad it happened , but I 'm glad I came to a good family , '' he said . Beard 's mother , Stella , is a `` remarkable woman , '' Howard said , but Beard did n't have much supervision at home . Howard thought to himself in 2008 , `` It 's not just enough to keep the kid out of jail one time because the system is stacked against him . '' Five of the Jena Six had already made tracks -- to Texas , to Georgia , to other parts of Louisiana -- but Beard had nowhere to go . That he was on house arrest for another juvenile offense confounded matters . `` I promise you I will get you out of Jena , whatever it takes , '' Howard told Beard . `` You promise me that you 'll hang in there , keep doing what you 're doing , going to school and keep out of trouble . '' Beard 's mother made `` the ultimate sacrifice , '' allowing Howard to pursue guardianship and ferry her son 1,500 miles to New England . She put aside Jena Six donations to help Howard pay Canterbury 's $ 40,000-a-year tuition , he said . She declined to be interviewed . Beard left Jena in spring 2008 . About a year later , Beard , Robert Bailey , Theo Shaw , Carwin Jones and Bryant Purvis pleaded no contest to misdemeanor battery . Fines and probation were doled out and civil suits settled . The terms were undisclosed . Bell , who served as the face -- and lightning rod -- of the Jena Six , had separately pleaded guilty to a second-degree battery charge in December 2007 . Weeks after completing his 18-month sentence at a juvenile facility , Bell shot himself in the chest in December after an arrest on shoplifting charges . He later said the pressure to be perfect prompted him to pull the trigger . Read Bell 's remarks after the suicide try . Jena is often painted as a town of bumpkins who pursued draconian criminal charges and exorbitant bails for a school fight but turned a blind eye when three nooses dangled from a campus tree . Beard , however , bristles at the portrait and defends his hometown . `` No , sir . There 's not more racists in Jena , '' he said . `` There 's racism everywhere . I just ca n't blame it on Jena because I did get along with the white folks and they did like me . '' As he and his five cohorts pursue educational and athletic endeavors around the nation , Beard hopes they wo n't be dogged by racial matters but that they 'll be `` superstars , not from being the Jena Six , but from whatever we go to college for . '' Howard and Parson have confidence Beard will succeed , no matter his occupation . `` Whatever he ends up doing , '' the coach said , `` he 's going to be great . ''
In spring 2008 , Jesse Ray Beard went to live with his attorney 's family in New York . Once accused of attempted murder in Louisiana , Beard now attending prep school . Attorney Alan Howard 's daughter , Jessie , says she considers Beard a brother . Football coach says he `` ca n't wait to unleash '' Beard at linebacker , wide receiver .