'No matter how hard life hits you... take it on the chin': 152 graduate from online schools
Six years after crippling anxiety forced her out of a traditional school environment, Pueblo County School District 70 Online graduate Megan Hardwick addressed a packed house at Pueblo Memorial Hall.
“Eleven-year-old me was not ready for public school… I would have severe panic attacks as soon as my mom left," Hardwick said. “She would have to come with me to class every day and stay with me for 15 minutes or more. My anxiety got so bad that my heart physically felt the pain.”
At Pueblo D70 Online, Hardwick grew to become a mentor to other students suffering from anxiety. She also took elective classes at Pueblo County High School, and spent her senior year fully enrolled at Pueblo Community College.
She was one of 152 students from Pueblo D70 Online and Pueblo School District 60’s Dutch Clark Digital Online at Paragon Learning Center to graduate high school.
Sixty-six D70 online students graduated Thursday at Memorial Hall. The following night, 86 students who had completed high school through programs offered by the Paragon Learning Center were handed their diplomas at a ceremony at Pueblo Community College.
A week earlier, graduation season kicked off in Pueblo with students at Dolores Huerta Preparatory High and Swallows Charter Academy receiving th
Michael Richmond was expelled from multiple schools before giving high school one last try at Pueblo D70 online.
Family members, teachers and staff members helped him handle his emotions in a healthy way and prioritize his studies, he said.
"I learned that it is okay to ask for help," he said. "No matter how hard life hits you, you always should take it on the chin and keep making yourself more successful."
His next step will be service in the U.S. Army, he said.
'I wanted to graduate, and I didn’t care what it took to get here'
Some Paragon students became parents during high school. Others lost loved ones, faced homelessness and battled illness on the path toward graduation, Paragon Learning Center assistant principal Julie Shue said.
Jetta Myers worked two jobs, seven days a week to provide for her three-year-old son Romeo, as she worked toward her diploma. At one of her jobs, she put in nearly 60 hours a week for seven weeks.
"I didn't realize how hard I was pushing myself until I was told I would be graduating," she said. "That made me realize I have put my mind to so much during such a short amount of time."
Leah Gallegos, another working mother and Paragon graduate, earned two years of high school credit in five months.
She is one of 30 Paragon graduates who will attend college. Fifty others received a Workforce Readiness certificate from the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, Principal Richard Mestas said.
"I worked 24/7, literally. I did my schoolwork while at work, when I was on break, while feeding my daughter, and at 4 am when I should’ve been resting," said Gallegos, who will study criminology at Colorado State University Pueblo in the fall.
"I wanted to graduate... I didn’t care what it took to get here."
Pueblo Chieftain reporter James Bartolo can be reached by email at JBartolo@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: 152 students graduate from Pueblo online high schools
