Staff Writer
A total of 6,000 students have graduated over the past decade from the Loring Job Corps Center with another group added to the list last week during the second graduation ceremony held this year at the Limestone center.
Aroostook Republican photo/Debra WalshClass marshals for the June 13 graduation at the Loring Job Corps Center were Heather Manwaring of West Yarmouth, Mass., and Paulo Bragga of Bridgeport, Conn.
“I’m so proud of them,” said James Gagnon, LJCC center director. “Their drive and their tenacity.”
About 30 students received diplomas during the Friday ceremony.
In welcoming family and friends to the graduation, Quaison Malone, the Student Government Association president, said that the audience has come to honor the “most impressive students on this center.
“These students came here with the patience and intelligence to make it through the center,” Malone said.
The ceremony’s guest speaker, Michelle Vick, was a 1992 graduate of the Blue Ridge Job Corps Center, and works at the NTL Institute for Applied Behavior Sciences in Arlington, Va. Her mother, Vera Ford, is the LJCC’s leadership development officer.
Vick asked the graduates to keep thinking about the future.
“Job Corps is a stepping stone,” she said. “Use it that way.”
Opportunity abounds in society, according to Vick, citing Hillary Clinton, a woman who ran for president, and Barack Obama, an African American running for the same office.
“That should tell you just how much the world has to offer you,” Vick said.
The struggle to earn a diploma and learn a trade was well worth it, Vick said. Graduates should remember their ancestors who had to “beat their way over here, so you could be where your are right now.”
Vick encouraged the graduates to encourage and inspire other Job Corps students.
“Come back (to LJCC) and tell your story,” said Vick.
Student Speaker Edna Ann Michel received a standing ovation for her comments where she offered thanks to those who helped her through the program.
“Thanks and praise to God for helping me find this path,” Michel said.
To staff and instructors who assisted her, she said, “Thanks for not giving up on me, for not turning your back on me.”
Also participating in the ceremony were Dr. Dottie Martin, director of learning; Kristie Moir, director of career advancement services; Brad Barbarula, director of community living; and Vera Ford, center leadership development officer.
Life Skills Instructor John P. Walsh performed the National Anthem.
Aroostook Republican photo/Debra Walsh
Members of the Honor Guard at Loring Job Corps Center await the start of graduation ceremonies last Friday. From left are James Flaherty, Tory Howard, Kester Rodriquez and Alvaro Espinoza. The foursome presented the American flag as well as the Job Corps’ emblem. About 30 graduates received diplomas during the second such ceremony the center had held this year.
Aroostook Republican photo/Debra WalshJustin Nadeau of Caribou hugs Dr. Dottie Martin after receiving a medal during the graduation exercises at Loring Job Corps Center on Friday. Justin earned a commercial driver’s license and his GED while at the Limestone center.
