The 20 graduates of the spring 2011 session of YouthBuild of North Central Montana were celebrated by their families and friends in the ballroom of Montana State University-Northern's Student Union Building.
Throughout the ceremony, Program Director Bob Anderson saw the looks of pride on the faces of the graduates, their families and a community of supporters.
“[It was a] perfect day, ” Anderson said. “Smiles on families. Smiles on students. A lot of accomplishments. A lot of pride walking around. It was nice to see a lot of the community here. I think that’s huge. ”
One of those proud graduates was Adrian Corcoran, who plans on using what he has learned over the past 20-weeks as a student at Northern next August.
“It’s brought me a long way, from dropping out of high school. Now I’m going somewhere, ” Corcoran said. “The certificates, a lot of stuff right now. This program hooked us up. ”
“I feel like I’m floating today. It’s awesome. ”
The program helps at-risk youths get the kinds of education, training and certifications that can help them in their adult lives.
“We offer an alternative to traditional education that offers hope, ” Anderson said. “It’s a hope that we have a future and we want something better. They’re ready to make that change. They want to step out. They want to know how to do it.
“And YouthBuild offers that opportunity. It’s a guided program to say ‘We can get you there. ’ Then it’s up to them to make that step. ”
More than friends and family were present to show their pride in those that made that step.
Members of Northern’s faculty and administration, Opportunity Link Inc. employees, Rep. Kris Hansen and Havre City Council member Pam Hillery were present to see the latest class graduate.
This third local YouthBuild class started with 27 students. Twenty of those ended up graduating.
The first class, who took a 40-week session starting in fall 2009, started with 40 students and graduated 18.
That improved graduation rate helped YouthBuild maintain its funding for another few years, adding another layer of celebration to the festivities.
