sometimes. >> reporter: listening to her describing studying at night in the homeless shelter. >> opened my phone in the dark and use your cell phone light. that's what i had to do. >> reporter: what she did was achieve a 4.66 gpa and a 1400 on her sats. making her the valedictorian and star student of humboldt county. and her sister is graduating as salu salutetorian from george washington carver. >> i would take them to the library. don't worry about this. do what you want. >> apparently 11 million kids are homeless in america. that's a 13% increase from 2010 to 2011, and they believe it's underreported because some families don't want to admit they're homeless. >> the mother made them read all the time, took them to the library. every day learning experiences were pointed out to them. >> mom made a difference.