12 graduate from Women’s Coalition-sponsored school

ST. CROIX — In a light hearted ceremony, the 12 members of the Project Link Class of 2010 celebrated their graduation and claimed their high school diplomas Thursday night.
 
The alternative school — sponsored by the Women’s Coalition of St. Croix and funded through the V.I. departments of Education and Labor — graduated its first class last year. It is a home-school tutorial adult education program.
 
This year’s students, who are referred to the program through the Labor Department, range in age from 18 to 35 and include men and women, said Sue Diverio, program director.
 
Before the graduation, student Nackisha Ramirez, 27, who dropped out of high school at 16, said that earning the diploma was important to her — for her children and for her future career possibilities.
 
“I was missing the most important part of my education,” she said, adding that even though she has years of managerial experience, her resume lacked a high school diploma.
 
The mother of two said she wants to give her children a better life and set a good example for them.
 
“I want my son to be able to say that my mom did it, and I can too,” she said of earning a high school diploma.
 
She said she tells any teen she meets to stay in school and attain their educational goals before settling down to have children — and before they have gotten into the life routine of an adult.
 
“Stay in school, get a career, get a diploma, and be someone,” she said. Ramirez plans to attend the University of the Virgin Islands in the fall and study accounting.
 
As the graduation ceremony got under way Thursday night, students in caps and gowns, carrying candles, made their way down the aisle at Caribbean Community Theater to the music of “Never Give Up.”
 
The ceremony featured several slide shows of students, along with Project Link staff members.
 
Project Link began when Diverio, who was running the Women’s Coalition afterschool program, found out that the Labor Department was offering a grant for a home-school tutorial adult program.
 
The Women’s Coalition was only using its Children’s Center in the evening, and, eventually, Project Link was born. Tutorial assistance is available to Project Link students from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. weekdays at the center.
 
Clema Lewis, Women’s Coalition co-director, said the alternative school fulfills part of the Women’s Coalition mission: violence prevention.
 
She noted that young men armed with high-school diplomas may be less likely to become involved in crime and that one of the reasons some women stay in abusive relationships is because they do not have the education and basic skills to get a job.
 
“This is an opportunity for us to catch them before they become victims — before they become criminals — before their lives turn into violence,” she said.
 
The program is based through the American School in Illinois, which is fully accredited, Diverio said.
 
“It was an exciting, rough and fun experience,” said graduate Leila Armstrong, who addressed her classmates during the ceremony.
 
Armstrong said they all had hard times but stuck with it and have now opened themselves to endless opportunities.
 
She thanked everyone who helped the graduates along the way and encouraged her classmates to follow their dreams, never give up, and continue to be a success.
 
Diverio told them: “Believe in yourselves. Come back if you need us. We’re here; we will work with you; we will help you get to the next step.”
 
— Contact Joy Blackburn at
774-8772 ext. 455 or e-mail
jblackburn@dailynews.vi.

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