The 97 graduates from Gary Middle College had a right to exuberance as they picked up hard-earned high school diplomas Friday.
Most were high school dropouts and journeyed non-traditional paths to their diplomas. Their friends and families didn’t hold back their joy and pride as they cheered on the graduates at the Hammond Civic Center, kicking off the commencement season in Northwest Indiana.
“That’s my baby, that’s my baby,” shouted Carolyn Harris, of Gary. Harris stood with pride as the name of her daughter Elizabeth Session, 19, was called.
The longest road to a diploma belonged to Janet Plant, of Gary. She dropped out her junior year at Chicago’s Marshall High, pregnant with her first daughter. She raised five children on her own, moving from job to job with no time to go back to school.
At 68, she walked across the stage. Plant held her diploma with both hands high over her head searching for her family in the overhead bleachers.
“I’m so proud of her,” said daughter Tuwanna Plant, 50. Tuwanna and her sister, Felicia Plant, 27, drove together from Richmond, Ind., to Hammond for the ceremony.
“I’ve been working since I’ve been like 14,” said Janet Plant who bounced around from daycare centers to factories to her current job cooking for a Gary catering service. Tuwanna said her mom always made sure her kids received love and nurturing despite her struggles as a sole provider.
For Plant, navigating math courses decades after she left high school served as her biggest challenge.
“My teachers helped me with all I didn’t know,” she said. “I was like a big crybaby, and I’d be like forget this, I don’t want to do this.”
She needed five years to get through Gary Middle College. Along the way, the death of her son rocked her and the family.
“I was just frustrated and my siblings started passing away,” she said.
Her kids and Gary Middle School teachers encouraged her to cross the finish line.
“I’m glad I’m done with this,” she said. “Now I can focus on something else.”
Heavenly Strong, 21, dropped out of Gary’s West Side Leadership Academy during the COVID-19 pandemic because remote learning couldn’t hold her interest.
At 16, she suffered burns over 50% of her body in a house fire in Gary. Her mom, Charlene Strong, shepherded her through lengthy hospital stays and skin grapt treatments.
Being “burnt up,” as Heavenly called it, discouraged her from returning to school.
She overcame that fear at Gary Middle College, a charter school that opened in 2012 at 4030 W. 5th Ave. in Gary and later opened a second site at 410 E. Columbus Dr. in East Chicago.
Heavenly recently broke her foot in an auto accident and hobbled through commencement in a walking boot and crutches. She still managed to dance her way across the stage and high-fived Principal Terrence McCollough.
“Those are some obstacles and I overcame them,” she said. “I’m here now.”
Strong was among 24 graduates who also earned Ivy Tech-Lake County credits. Seven students received certificates in pharmacy tech or veterinary assistant.
“Now, I’m trying to focus on the future. I want to focus on furthering my career,” she said.
“That’s my child and I love her. I’m a proud mother today and she’s been through a lot,” said Charlene Strong, who is encouraging her daughter to continue her studies at Indiana University Northwest.
GEO Foundation CEO and founder Kevin Teasley said Friday’s graduates represented the school’s biggest class. The GEO Foundation also operates the 21st Century Charter School in Gary.
“You are the face of determination,” Teasley told the class. “What you are doing today is our dream come true.”
Another graduate, Kandi Clay, agreed. She spoke to her class and also earned a pharmacy tech certificate to launch a new career.
“We just don’t celebrate where we’ve been. We celebrate where we’re going,” she said as her family cheered.
Carole Carlson is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
