Five of the graduates in attendance at the Honoring Ceremony for the New Horizons Education Program on Tuesday. These five young mothers were presented with their high school diplomas; a sixth also completed her high school degree, but delivered her baby the day before the ceremony, so was not able to attend. The Lund Center asked that most of the graduates and students in the program not be identified. Photo by Amy Ash Nixon/VTDigger
SOUTH BURLINGTON — Five young mothers, all in purple caps and gowns complete with purple tassels, graduated from the Lund Family Center’s New Horizons Education Program last week.
A sixth graduate, however, was not in attendance — her baby was born the day before. The news that mother and baby were doing well was greeted warmly by the packed audience.
“Today is really about hope,” said Kim Coe, director of residential and community treatment services for Lund. The graduation, which at Lund is called an Honoring Ceremony, took place at the Lund Hoehl Family Building on Tuesday afternoon.
Students in New Horizons are dealing with very grown-up challenges and responsibilities, yet persevere, and in so doing, have laid the groundwork for better futures for themselves and their children, Coe said.
Desiree Suggs, 23, of Burlington, said her son, Rahzier, 3, was her inspiration for returning to school. She dropped out of school when she was 17, and now is planning to go to college to study criminal justice.
Asked what earning her diploma means to her, Suggs smiled, and offered a single word: “Everything.”
A school for babies and parents
New Horizons is a state-approved education program for pregnant and parenting young women that provides year-round educational services.
The program has two licensed teachers plus support staff and provides vocational and postsecondary education in a setting that allows the women to parent while continuing their educations.
The child of one of the graduates in the New Horizons Education Program is held by Kathy Rossman, a teacher in the program, during the Honoring Ceremony at the Lund Hoehl Family Building. Photo by Amy Ash Nixon/VTDigger
Babies up to six months old can attend classes with their mothers; older children are enrolled in Lund’s Early Childhood Education Program.
Students also receive parenting and life skills courses to help them become successful parents and citizens.
“The school is small and supportive and it is not unusual for teachers to teach while holding a baby or lights to be dimmed while a baby is napping in a pack-and-play in the corner of the room,” spokeswoman Charlotte Blend said.
Lund works closely with the students’ sending schools, school districts, and the Vermont Agency of Education, she said, and New Horizons is a key part of Lund’s treatment, education, adoption and family support services.
Students in the program are referred to Lund by guidance counselors, medical providers or Reach Up case managers, she said.
Some students enrolled in the New Horizons program “come straight from other schools and others are re-engaging in school after a break during their pregnancy or after dropping out,” said Blend.
In fiscal year 2014, 48 students attended the program, and 100 percent who were eligible to receive their high school diplomas did so, said Blend.
Courage and strength
Graduation speaker Ryan Esbjerg, founder of Flex Your Face, a Portland, Maine-based company, overcame obstacles, too.
Esbjerg’s organization is based on his life-changing return to sobriety after nearly losing his life. When he bottomed out the last time, Esbjerg said, he committed himself to simplifying his life, and finding a way to focus on what he was grateful for.
Esbjerg said things began to change — quickly.
Smiling had a lot to do with that, he said.
“Smiling makes you feel better,” he said.
Esbjerg’s organization sells apparel featuring the “Flex Your Face” logo and he gives the money to customers drawn randomly, asking them what they’ve always wanted to do — then making that happen.
Esbjerg, 31, told the graduates he had gotten himself to a place where he was sleeping on the streets, drunk, and bouncing from rehab to rehab, landing in hospitals, including Fletcher Allen Health Care in Burlington, desperate.
He said he works today to try to help others see their value and possibility.
“I have an unshakable, an undeniable belief in every single individual in this room … You will change this world for the better,” Esbjerg said, looking each graduate in the eye. “I know for a fact that you have something unique to offer this world.”
Lund board of trustees president Sara Byers was last to speak, and she, too, was full of hope for the young graduates.
“Before me, I see women filled with courage and strength,” Byers said. By embracing opportunities instead of succumbing to obstacles, she said, “You have changed the course of your life.”
Byers said, “You have proven to be positive role models for your children by showing your children that education is a priority and you believe in its possibilities. You have given your children a gift, and it’s a gift they’ll have forever.”
“You truly do have unlimited potential,” said Byers. “You are the real heroes.”
The post With a message of hope and possibility, young moms graduate from Lund program appeared first on VTDigger.