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| Getting a jump start on life after high school |
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| Education | |||
| Written by Aaron Cedeño | |||
| Wednesday, 03 February 2010 08:00 | |||
When Ashley Weaver enrolled at Peoria Street Learning Center at the start of the 2008-2009 academic year, she knew she wanted to take advantage of the school’s option to graduate early.  It was always part of the plan, she said, for a number of reasons. But even she couldn’t have predicted why earning her degree a few months early would be such a blessing. Not only is Weaver able to get a head start on focusing on her future, but she’s able to spend time with her grandfather during his ongoing battle with cancer. “If I was still trying to get school finished, I think it would just be so much stress,” Weaver said. “Now it’s a relief (to be done), and I can focus on other things.” Though the option is still new to PSLC, Weaver’s positive experience is already becoming common, said Becky Golba, one of the alternative school’s teachers. On Dec. 17, Weaver and three of her fellow students — Shelby Joeckel, Pamela Leach and Richard Stokes — all formally completed their high school education. Joeckel and Weaver attended a small graduation ceremony at the school with teachers, friends, parents and district administrators in attendance. The school has offered students the chance to graduate early for two years now, Golba said, and it’s an option the PSLC staff actively promotes. The reasoning for it is two-fold. The first benefit, said PSLC coordinator Nancy Boyer, is that it gives their students the chance to accelerate their educational timetable and get a jump on the rest of their lives — be it by applying for further education or entering the workforce. Additionally, some students aren’t able to complete their coursework by the end of their respective “senior” years. By making a mid-year graduation option available, Boyer said, they don’t have to wait a full year for their diplomas. “We’ve had some students who were supposed to graduate last year and didn’t quite make it,” Boyer said. “But the fact they knew they could get done in the half year was advantageous for them.” While both Joeckel and Weaver agreed their experience at PSLC was extremely positive, Joeckel wasn’t sure the early graduation option was for everyone. The staff was more than willing to help every step of the way, she said, but the school’s open curriculum meant that the will to get work done on time had to come from within. For those who can find it, however, the potential benefits are considerable. For students like Joeckel and Weaver, the intimate graduation ceremony in December put a fitting cap on their high school education. “It made it special,” Joeckel said, of having her loved ones in attendance. “They were just so proud of me, and Mom started crying. It was really cool.”
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