Posted on Thursday June 17
Nine students from The Community School’s Passages Program for teen parents will graduate this Saturday, in the school’s third, and final, graduation ceremony of the season.
Tiphani Williams, Christian Roberts, Misti Norwood, Naomi DeWalt, Nicole Wallace, Renee Grey, Naomi Marr, Kristina Ott and Sarah Troxel will receive their high school diplomas on Saturday, in what is sure to be another emotional day of well deserved celebration for these young students.
The Passages Program is a home-based high school diploma program for teen parents, and in order to graduate, students must complete requirements ranging from traditional academics to parenting skills.
Students complete work in 23 core areas, including math, science, social studies, English language arts, nutrition, budgeting, and child development.
They do all of this while raising children, and sometimes, holding down jobs or internships at the same time.
Students must also complete a final graduation project, or “Passage”, which they present to a team of advisors before graduation. Each Passage project represents a particular passion, fear, goal or challenge for the student, and they typically spend many months working on their projects.
For her Passage, Naomi Marr is learning to play guitar, and has been learning a particular song her grandfather used to play for her, so that she can play it for her own young child as he grows up, and pass on an important family musical tradition.
Tiphani Williams is learning how to knit, and is making a hat and slippers for her young son. Christian Roberts is designing a computer game, and Naomi DeWalt is conducting a clothes and food drive for the homeless.
Misti Norwood is job shadowing at a local hair salon in preparation for applying to cosmetology school in the fall. Nicole Wallace worked with a nutritionist to expand her cooking options and she has put together a recipe book for her two young sons with special nutritional needs.
Renee Grey is starting a young mom’s playgroup to help young mothers break through the isolation of new parenthood. Kristina Ott is learning to bake with the help of a local pastry chef, and is creating a cookbook.
Sarah Troxel is learning how to drive, moving into her own
apartment, applying to culinary school and creating a scrapbook that reflects her experiences as a new young mother.
All of these students have worked hard to complete high school, and create a better life for their children.
When they graduate this Saturday, they will be giving their children the best gift they can give them- parents who have worked hard to create a bright future for their children.
Graduation will be held at 2:00 pm on Saturday, at The John Street Methodist Church in Camden.
For more information, call The Community School at 236-3000 or visit www.thecommunityschool.org.
