CARIBOU, Maine — Eighteen students marched to receive their diploma at the Caribou Learning Center last Thursday. Family and friends packed the gymnasium for the May 19, 2016 ceremony, which opened with an introduction by Director Dan McDonald and the pledge of allegiance, led by graduate Courtney Theriault.
Awards were presented to Megan Faulkner, Jesse Rivera and Katelynn Bilodeau for receiving exceptional scores on the High School Equivalency Test.
Seven students, who were not able to attend, were named for achieving College and Career Readiness Proficiency: Jarred Frizzell, Avery Brown, Brett Salisbury, Christopher Theriault, Anthony Edwards, William Terrell and Bethany McAvoy.
McDonald also gave a brief speech before presenting Gary Hewitt with the Director’s Award.
“Like many who find their way to adult education, as a young man his reasons for joining the workforce were more compelling than staying in school to earn a high school diploma,” said McDonald. “After a long work history operating and maintaining heavy equipment, welding, and even as a volunteer firefighter in New York, he relocated to Maine and landed a great job with the Maine Military Authority.”
“In 2014, the reality of the layoff took effect and he qualified for retraining funds with our partners, however he didn’t qualify because he lacked a high school diploma, which severely limited his training opportunities,” continued McDonald. “This year, he returned to follow through on his initial goal when he entered adult ed: to gain a high school credential. After a good deal of studying math, he took the HiSet exams and passed all five sections including near college and career ready scores in science, social studies and math. He continues to attend programs as they become available, most recently in Career Pathways. He recently asked our Academic Coordinator, ‘What am I going to learn next?’”
Speakers included guest Christy Daggett and student speaker Jaycee Bevins.
Daggett, who grew up in The County, related her personal and professional experiences to the graduating class. She has worked and advocated at the Maine Legislature throughout her career, and served as President of the Board of the Maine affiliate of the Susan G. Komen Foundation, in addition to a number of other notable achievements.
During her introduction, it was mentioned that she is no stranger to the struggles of non-traditional learners, as she earned an advanced degree while being a full-time working parent of three small children.
Student speaker Bevins encouraged graduates to take the day to celebrate their success.
“For us, today is a day of celebration,” Bevins said. “Not because this is the end, but because we’ve each already started the next steps by entering the workforce, planning for college, or even moving far away. We learned from our teachers and mentors at the Caribou Learning Center and in the community who gave us a chance to learn who we are as we prepared for our roles in the community and future careers.”
“Yesterday was when we studied and developed skills and knowledge,” Bevins concluded. “Tomorrow, we will continue to learn new things and make decisions and backtrack and start over. Now is the time to celebrate our successes and even the things that didn’t work out well. Thank you for being here to share this moment with us.”
