For Ramiro Morales-Solis, the path to Wednesday’s graduation ceremony was anything but easy. The Guatemalan native and New American had to learn a third language, English, and then apply it to his studies.
And as for a traditional 8-4 school day — that wasn’t even a possibility.
“I work 10 hours every day” at a construction job in Orlando — a 280-mile round trip — in order to support himself and send money back to his family in Guatemala, Ramiro said.
He found the flexibility and support he needed at Martin County Acceleration Academy, which works in partnership with the school district to offer a personalized, flexible nontraditional path to a high school diploma to students who might otherwise drop out.
“Ramiro is one of the most hard-working young men whom we have met,” graduation candidate advocate Amanda Allen said at the commencement. “He works hard at construction by day and works just as hard on school at night and on the weekend.”
“Ramiro is incredibly kind and compassionate,” she continued, expressing the staff’s sentiments. “His devotion to learning despite the language barrier is nothing less than noble.”
Ramiro was one of five newly minted MCAA grads celebrated Wednesday morning at Veteran’s Memorial Park in Stuart: Ramiro, Michael Levanar, Tommie Rooney, Paige Nicol and Anthony Bailey. Even as the grads, academy educators and family members were gathering for the event, a dark cloud parked itself overhead and began to rain.
Undaunted, Academy Director Laura Husnander pressed ahead.
“I want to thank you and your families,” she said. “Whatever made you come looking for us, it matters. You matter.”For Michael Levenar, graduation was the culmination of a long and frustrating journey that began when he had to leave his old school after his junior year and was then unsure if he could earn his diploma or would have to settle for a GED.
“We were giving up hope,” said Michael, an A and B student with ambitions to become an engineer. But then the phone rang, and Husnander told him about a program where he could escape the toxic social dynamic in his old school and focus on finishing his studies.
“I couldn’t have done it without my mom, my sister and all the teachers at Acceleration,” Michael said. “It gave me an opportunity to go back to school.”
His mom, Joan, and older sister, Tatiana, said they appreciated the opportunity MCAA had provided, and admired the way Michael took advantage of it. He earned the admiration of Academy educators as well.
“Michael is polite and mild-mannered, but his resolve runs deep,” Mrs. Allen said at the ceremony.For Tommie Rooney, enrolling in MCAA’s personalized program allowed him to complete his high school studies while also pursuing passions including gymnastics, guitar and writing a science fiction novel.
“Tommie is a jack of all trades. He has a bright mind that can master anything he sets his focus on,” said Mrs. Allen.
Tommie is the first to admit that those passions sometimes distracted him from his studies. But he says, MCAA educators never let him stray too far.
“The teachers never gave up on me, no matter what happened,” Tommie said. “If I disappeared for a while, they’d be annoying me on my phone, which I really appreciated.”
If there was one word to capture the spirit of the day, it was persistence — by learners and educators alike.
Although he often got home late from his construction job and then had to find the energy to study, Ramiro pushed hard to graduate before he “aged out” of the public school system. He finished his last class on his 22nd birthday, said Jeannette Navarro, a bilingual Academy staff member who works with many of the Spanish-speaking graduation candidates.
Grinning at Ramiro after he finished his coursework, she said, “He celebrated his birthday by doing his last final.”
