Press release from Fort Wayne Community Schools:
Students share stories of determination and success at graduation
A young mother, a father of three and three other continuing education graduates will share their stories of determination and success during the Celebrating Literacy Commencement Event at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 3, at the Scottish Rite Center. The five speakers are among the 330 graduates who completed the high school program at Anthis Career Center between January and December 2009. Students will receive a GED certificate or high school diploma during the ceremony at the Scottish Rite Auditorium. The Literacy Alliance will host a reception prior to the ceremony from 5:30-6:30
p.m. in the lower level ballroom of the Scottish Rite Center. The Adult and Continuing Education program at Anthis Career Center serves students from ages 17 to 94, many of whom have endured educational and personal struggles on their road to graduation. Among those speaking at the ceremony
are:
- Humberto Giron came to Fort Wayne six years ago with a high school diploma earned in Mexico but found employers would not accept it. As he learned English, he studied and eventually passed the GED exam.
- Emily Lydy will talk about finding her way after dropping out of high school and exploring other job opportunities. She realized she wouldn’t get far without a high school diploma and returned to Anthis for GED classes.
- Anthony Martin will share his story of living at 100 addresses and attending at least a dozen schools by the time he was 17. When he moved to Fort Wayne he was nervous about attending a new school but found he quickly settled in at Anthis.
- Jon Peete left high school as a teenager and found a good-paying job. But 18 years later, the father of three was laid off and realized without a high school diploma, he likely wouldn’t find a new job.
- It has been more than 35 years since New Haven native David Potts left school. Having thought he passed the GED before entering the Air Force, he was surprised to learn otherwise during a job search. He passed the GED last fall fulfilling a promise he made to himself and his father, who died over the summer.
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