 Okay, well, thank you all for coming to the June 2017 YVA graduation. I am Sonny Waterman, the director of YVA, and I want to thank all of you for being here to support these students who have worked so hard to complete their graduation requirements. All right, would you please rise as the class of June 2017 enters the auditorium. Thank you so much. Congratulations. First of all, I would like to thank the Portland Public Library as they so graciously allow us to use this auditorium and provide all the equipment for us. I also would like to thank former board, youth, learning work, sorry, board member Teresa Coburn and Alyssa Sprouls for supplying all the refreshments today. They've done an amazing job. We will have those available at the end of the ceremony. So thank you. These students, all 22 of them, they all began in October except for one wayward lost soul that we brought into the group with us. And we allowed him and the rest of them to participate in this program for nine months. They have completed all of the requirements that were developed based on an individual basis and their individual needs. Their comprehensive program has included these components, academic instruction which focused on high set test preparation and a demonstration of growth and math reading and writing, vocational training, NCCER requirements and carpentry, pro start culinary arts program, hospitality certifications, in guest service gold, front desk representative, restaurant server, guest room attendant and or maintenance worker, OSHA 10 certification, serve safe certification, jobs remain graduates classes for preparation to obtain and maintain a job, leadership classes, career and post-secondary education preparation classes, work ready certification, renovation of an apartment owned by Portland Housing Authority, community service projects at many organizations such as Prepple Street, Wolf's Neck Farm and Sale Main. These students have earned over 72 certifications, give yourselves a hand, them have demonstrated at least two years academic growth in reading, math and or writing. They have also given over 350 hours of community service to the surrounding area. So we're very, very proud of them and we are honored to share in their commencement ceremony. We will start this morning's ceremony with some of our student speakers. We are honored to have five young ladies who have graciously volunteered to share their thoughts this morning about the program, their lives where they were, where they have come from and where they're going. So if we could please welcome to the stage Grace Wiley. All right, I'm not much of a public speaker, so this is a lot for me right now, but we're going to do it. All right. Hello. Hi. I'm Maria. I'm Grace Wiley. I'd first like to start off by saying thank you to everyone for coming to support our YBA family as we reach our final moments of attending YBA. I want to ask everyone here, has anyone ever asked you what you wanted to be when you grow up? Well, I've been asked that a lot in my life, but when I would tell people what I wanted to be, they would always have a reason as to why it wasn't achievable. But here at YBA, mostly anything is achievable. I came from Gorham High School where there was nothing but mental and physical torment. I was attacked three years in a row by the same girl. No one helped me. I pled for help so I could further my education without the fear of getting hurt in school. Besides the help from a couple kind hearted teachers, they didn't offer me much except if I felt scared to tell them. Realistically, that wasn't going to make anything any better. I finally had enough of being hurt in a place that was supposed to feel safe, but I took it upon myself to look up alternative youth programs. YBA popped up. After looking at the website, I was hooked. Before dropping out of Gorham Fully, I came in for a tour. A couple days later, I got a phone call from Sonny asking me if I would come in to speak with her. I got nervous. My hand started sweating as she was talking. I felt a sort of relief though as she told me I got accepted. I nearly fell out of my seat when I found out. I quickly withdrew from Gorham to start my new life at YBA. The first day of school was kind of crazy from trying to fit 14 people onto one tiny milk crate to making up nicknames that have to do with foods. I was pretty nervous to jump into school. I felt I couldn't look anyone in their eyes. Then I saw all of my fears had went away because I soon learned that no one here was judgmental and we all kind of fit together like a family. As months went on, students got closer to students and teachers. I soon noticed every teacher here has their own way of showing us they care about our future. From Charlie's sarcastic remarks, Durrani getting so mad he left us in the room until we got work done. I soon came to realize that Charlie doesn't make the remarks to be mean. He makes the remarks to show us he secretly cares. Rodney didn't close us in a room because he was mad. He closed us in because he wanted us to get work done because he cared about our education. Julie, Sonny, Lindsay, Rodney, Dave, Charlie, Sam, and Tom pushed us to do things we normally wouldn't do. And I want to give them a big thank you. If it wasn't for all of you, I would not have pushed myself to get through these past few months and plan to enroll in SMCC as a health science major to pursue my dream of being a physical therapist. Once again, I'd like to say thank you to my class for being my friends and family through this time. And thank you teachers for your patience with me and my crazy self. And thank you parents and everybody for coming to support us. Now I would like to welcome Xandra Remington to the stage. Before I start reading my graduation speech, I want to thank everyone for coming here today and for Grace's lovely speech. They also told me to picture everyone naked. That would help, but it's really not helping. All right, new beginnings. I thought I wasn't going to graduate until next year or maybe not at all. I wasn't supposed to be, I was supposed to be a junior, but I dropped out and got into legal trouble. I even ran away to New York City. A lot of us dropped out and have gotten into trouble. No one was able to accommodate our needs in school. My mom always did a lot to help me in school though, which I'm extremely thankful for. High school just didn't work for me. It didn't work for any of us. We all just took a different route to get there. We went to YBA. YBA helped us accommodate us with so many skills in the education we didn't think we would get. But now we're here, graduates of 2017, the ending of a new beginning. Getting here now sure as hell wasn't easy. YBA gave us a second chance, a fresh start. We get to choose what we do with the education we have received. YBA gave us a second chance. We get to have endless amounts of options and opportunities we can take. What will we choose? What will come next for you? Now we have college, internships, and jobs to get us to the careers we love. We have travels and independence to come. We create our future. We decide what we do. Our journey here was like wildfire. You know it. Wildfire, I say. I'm not going to say it was going to be easy from here out. But at least you know you can achieve anything if you set your mind to it. That's what YBA showed us. They asked us what we wanted to do next our whole lives. When I was little, I could say I wanted to be a princess and get away with it. But now they want a serious answer. Truth is, who the hell knows? We actually graduated, though. Look at us. That's pretty incredible. We all haven't made the best choices, but coming here was a choice we'll never regret. Thank you, Sony, Tom, Julie, Dave, Charlie, Sam, Lindsey, and Rodney for helping us get here today. I also want to thank my family for coming here and let you guys know I love you. Even though I don't say it enough, I couldn't ask for a better family. Thank you. Now I'd like to welcome Sarah to the stage. I came to YBA because regular high school didn't work for me. I was miserable with the whole school system and had many problems with it. 80-minute classes were unbearable because it was a lot of city stuff. Teachers were unhelpful because it was just expected of us to do work. And that was thrown at us and we didn't have any support. When I was given work, I didn't understand. I was told to just reread worksheets and figure it out. If I couldn't figure it out, I just wouldn't do it. All my assignments would just pile up and cause more stress on me. Eventually being nagged at by everyone just made me fall into what felt like an endless hole because I was constantly told if I couldn't finish high school I was going to be nothing go nowhere. My depression took a turn for the worst again my junior year. I couldn't even get out of my bed and would spend all day in it. I didn't care about my future anymore and I completely gave up. I've been working with my counselor Molly since eighth grade and in my junior year when I was struggling she suggested YBA. We took a tour but I didn't want anything to do with it because I thought it was bad kids that came here. Although I was skeptical it was only a nine month program so I decided to just do it. My first week here was kind of a love hate because I didn't know anybody and I don't like meeting new people. The week was full of different activities to get us all comfortable with each other. After three weeks I was comfortable with the teachers. They're all amazing people. Supportive motivational caring laid back just everything you could ask for in a teacher. Smaller classes provided one-on-one support and it was no rush and I could work at my own pace without being left behind. The nine months of being here I accomplished all my certificates. Four high sets and CCR, OSHA, four hospitalities, community service hours, pro start and surf safe. I also have done my resume and cover letter and interview ready. I've not only accomplished my goals but I've achieved more than I thought. I'm going to start work in August and next year I'm pursuing a degree in criminal justice. I see a future for myself now and I couldn't be any more happy that I was in this program and the people I've met. I wish the best on everyone here today and that they accomplish their future goals. I want to say thank you to everyone who has been there for me and helped me through the hardest parts of my life, especially my mom and Molly. Thank you and now I'd like to introduce Brittany Freeman. If you are faced with the mountain you have several options. You can climb it and cross to the other side. You can go around it, you can dig under it, you can fly over it, you can blow it up. You can ignore it and pretend it's not there. You can turn around and go back the way you came or you can stay on the mountain and make it your home, Vera and Nazarian. My name is Brittany Freeman and I would like to thank you all for coming to the YBA class of 2017 graduation. When I came to YBA, I was probably at the worst place in my life that I've ever been in. I was homeless, dealing with the recent loss of my daughter and had turned to alcohol and drugs to get out of my own head. I'd always heard about YBA in which I had the chance to be a part of their program. I took a shot in the dark and fell down an application with my counselor thinking I had no actual chance of being accepted. A few weeks later I had my interview with Sony. When I walked through the doors of YBA I immediately knew this was somewhere I would fit in and love being a part of. I knew I belonged here. For the first three weeks we had to have 80% attendance and great ratings and then we could sign our contract to be able to stay. Sony, Dave, Julie, Lindsay, Charlie, Sam, Tom and Rodney. All saw something in me that I didn't see myself. I didn't meet the qualifications but I was giving multiple chances. For the first few weeks everyone was getting to know each other and eventually we all became a family. There's been good times and bad times but I wouldn't have wanted to go through the good or the bad with anyone else. Sony, you've given me the ability to see believe in myself because you believed me when I felt no one else did. Rodney, you've shown me that even though sometimes I get irritated with things that I could push through them and that your heart was always in the right place. Lindsay, thank you for always helping me and walking me through things every step of the way when I didn't understand school work or even things in my life. Julie, thank you for always giving me a good laugh no matter what's going on in my life. And Dave, thank you for showing me skills I honestly had no idea I'd ever be capable of having. Charlie, thank you for helping me with my work when I felt no one else could teach me and being someone I could always come and talk to. Sam and Tom, thank you for helping me get into a few helpful programs and seeing what is out there for work. And Nora, thank you for always giving me a good laugh and being an amazing person to talk to. I wanna thank my peers and staff for helping make YBA my home, helping me start out strong and finish stronger, making YBA the only place I could go to when there's no air and no one else. I know of the pleasure of welcoming Cassandra Donner to the stage. I love and good morning friends and family. First, I would love to take a moment to thank you all for showing your love and support throughout the year. It was not an easy road getting where we are today. We all have different ways to get where we are, different strategies, different outlooks on what we thought we needed to accomplish. My name is Cassandra Donner and this is my story. Well, today I graduate. Now the day goes by that I don't ask myself how or why but then I really thought about it. A year ago I dropped out of Portland High School. I had no credits and no ambitions to get any. So there I was, a junior with no credits. I was slipping up really bad. I was always in trouble with the law. One day, all my teachers and my mother had a meeting. In that meeting, they decided it would be best if I attended YBA. I didn't really care at first. For a solid three or four months, I was totally against it. I got mad, people would bring it up. Then one day, I had a breakdown in school. I decided that very moment, I needed YBA. It was a smaller school with less students and it would be better all around. So I got the tour and really liked it. Now here I am, part of the graduating class of YBA 2017. Not only did they help me get where I needed to be but they helped me get and stay out of trouble with the law. I did my community service with Tim. He kept me busy but he also made it so I had a friend. He was always there if I needed something to talk to and he still is. In the YBA family, everyone has their own part. There is Tom and Sam who are always making stuff happen and getting us enrolled in this program. They set us up for a way of life that throws at us next. Sonny and Charlie are always there for us and talking us out of a lot. Making sure we stay out of trouble. Then Rodney, Lindsay, Julie, and Dave. The four main teachers helped us get where we are today. If it wasn't for them, we would not be where we are or know what we know. From OSHA 10 to Surfsafe and all that fun stuff in between. Honestly, if you just keep a positive outlook on what you're trying to complete then it doesn't matter how you did it. It's crossing the finish line that matters. I'm proud of all my peers for taking that leap and crossing the finish line. It was one hell of a ride. Once again, I would love to thank my parents for pushing me and all the students and teachers for being my friends and family throughout the year. I would like to welcome our director, Sonny Waterman to the stage again. I have a pleasure of welcoming Brittany Freeman back up to the podium. She is going to share with you the gift of the joy, the recipients of the joy project. So Brittany, would you please come up and... Thank you all for attending the graduation of YBA's class of 2017. My name is Brittany Freeman and I would like to take this time to tell you a little bit about our joy program. In our JMG class, our teacher Julie Stone taught us about philanthropy through Jumpstart Our Youth, also known as JOY. JOY is a program funded by the Unity Foundation with the goal of teaching students the importance of giving back to their community. Through JOY, my classmates and I, we all did research on a local nonprofit organization in which we would donate $1,000 to. We broke it down to five local nonprofit organizations that help youth in the area. The five organizations came in to talk about what their programs do to help youth in the community. We all voted on which organization we thought would be best to give the money to. This year we chose the My Place Teen Center in Westbrook. They'll be using their money to help students in the area attend the teen center during the summer. Today we'd like to invite the teen center to the stage to receive their check. Throughout the year, our students earn many awards. We do award ceremonies every month to recognize their accomplishments. And we would like to do one final awards ceremony. So the staff got together and decided which names we would attach to each area. All of these students are capable of getting multiple awards. So this was very difficult for us. But we worked very hard to decide who was going to get one. First award is Outstanding Service and Job Sight. Job Sight Excellence. And many of these students have worked very hard to renovate an apartment. They've also worked with Dave in the shop. They've built sheds for Camp Ketchup. They worked at Sail Main repairing the floats. They've been out at Wolf's Neck Farm. They've done so many things this year with learning how to use tools and have earned their NCCER certification. And also, many of them have an OSHA 10. So what I would like to do is have the following students come up and stand right here. And then I will present you with your award. So the first one for Job Sight Excellence is Destin Broadley. Next to him is CJ Waters. Then we have Cassie Donner and Esmin Perez and Logan Berg. In order for you to be fully prepared and go out into the world, and so you wouldn't lose it, we put your name on it. So CJ, Destin, here's your hammer. And then next group of students have shown amazing skill in the kitchen. They have worked really hard to prepare amazing dishes and meals and have also worked with Chef Berio. I saw him here somewhere. He came to visit and worked with Julie, who is our amazing chef. And they go every other day and make some great stuff. And they've also earned their ProStart certificate. So these people get awards for culinary arts and need to come up here. Christian Molina Mendez, Calvin Goldrup, and Joe DeBale. Take your next step out into the world of a restaurant we need. Chef Calvin, set of awards is for JMG, Jobs for Main Graduates. These students work very hard to prepare themselves for the workforce, doing all kinds of activities, financial literacy, writing their resumes, practicing for interviews. We also had a large group of students who went this year and participated in the Career Development Conference. Julie is also the JMG teacher. So these awards are for Jobs for Main Graduates Excellence, Riley Coffin, Anthony Machiavelli, and Tallulah Freeman. The next group of students have demonstrated excellence in the area of career preparation and post-secondary ed preparation. They have classes with Sam and Tom once a week. They work also on preparing their resumes, their portfolios. They do job searches, work on their mock interview and interview skills, and then basically kind of prepare themselves for the workforce. So students who have demonstrated excellence in career and post-secondary ed pathways are John Sullivan, Ms. Keaton. For old, you need a portfolio with some paper so you can take notes and be ready to have your resume in there. And Sam made some business cards for you, so they're in here ready to go. John? All of the business cards, so you're ready? OK. You're ready. I know you are. Congratulations. Thank you. All of our students work very hard in the classroom, but this next group has demonstrated academic excellence throughout the year and have worked really hard in all areas. Samantha Grant, Nia Glant, Alexandra Remington. To help you in the classroom in your next step, you need Sharpies, Highlighters, and notebooks. All right. Lindsay works hard with the students to prepare them for the area of hospitality, where they receive certificates in front desk, maintenance, guest attendant, guest room attendant, and restaurant server. Some of these students have four, do you have four? Four certificates. They've done an amazing job. They also get a guest service gold certificate, which recognizes their achievements in customer service. So these students have done an outstanding job in hospitality, Ty Lee Tran. Dominic Johnson. So as you go out into the world, you need an apron. Nobody not, oh, you don't have one. Do you know what it's for? The last area that we work really hard in is leadership. And Charlie has leadership classes once a week, but leadership is intertwined throughout everything that these students do. We look for leadership at morning poutine. Afternoon wrap up, JMG, classroom, job site, community service, everywhere we go. So the award this year for leadership excellence is Grace Wiley. There's need a megaphone to be heard. Now, we also have a few special awards that as we spoke as a group and talked about these guys like we always do when they're not there. We talked about some students that have made remarkable growth this year. In many areas, they are probably surprised themselves as well as us sometimes as we looked back and thought, wow, this kid has come a long way no matter what happens. They're there. So I have a few director's awards. The first student is very quiet, arrives every day, is blown through his high sets like they weren't even there. I'm not even sure that he needed us to help him. He just needed us to push him in the right direction. He's been a great leader and a friend to his peers and is always there to help them. So the director's award, one of our director's awards today goes to Anthony McDonough. The next award surprised all of us, but this is a student who no matter what happens, he keeps coming in, he keeps working hard, he's extremely intelligent, although he tries to hide it as often as possible. I think he's worried that other people might notice how smart he is. I love seeing his smile. I love seeing the accomplishments that he's made and we're really, really proud of him. The growth has been amazing this year. Dominic Johnson. And the last award, I swear I'm gonna get through this. I don't know why she does this to me. The last award is for a student who has just picked herself up so many times and has had so many things thrown at her. She didn't think she was gonna make it at first. We weren't even sure she was gonna make it, but as she mentioned, we gave her an extra chance because we knew that she had it in there. She just needed to find it and use it. And she has been an amazing presence and force in our program and is an inspiration to all of us. So director's award for Brittany Freeman. And then the last award this morning is for, we always have to look for the student of the year, somebody who has just been the voice, the face of YBA, here every day, even when he's done and he could have been gone, has accomplished everything we put in front of him. He's earned his high set, N-C-C-E-R, pro-start, hospitality, OSHA 10, serve safe. You name it, he's done it. He's our resident actor. If you've ever been anywhere within a block of the building, you've heard him. So student of the year, Joe DeBale. And one last thing I did give to the director's awards recipients, but they all get freshy bucks for the last time, which they would rather have than air. All right. Okay, now, oh, this is way to be good. We have a tradition. Suck it up, right? Thank you, you're wonderful. We have a tradition at YBA of doing appreciations. We do appreciations at the end of the day at wrap up to share something that we've learned or something that we're grateful or thankful for. So I always take this opportunity to do a last and final appreciation for each one of these students for the contributions in their program, our program, their program. So you don't have to get up, just stay there. Don't even look, don't even look at me, okay? Logan, I appreciate your fierce opinions, believe it or not. I sense that they mask some of your insecurities, but I know that you're gonna learn to harness that energy and use it to argue your case in front of the Supreme Court. Destin, I appreciate your perseverance. You had little self-confidence and didn't think you could make it to this day, but you kept pushing forward and you will continue to work toward achieving your goals. I really enjoyed being part of your accomplishments, accomplishments including the 17 on your last high set. Thank you. Riley, where are you? I appreciate your optimism and your resilience. No matter what happened in your life, you dealt with it and moved on. Not letting those outside issues interfere with your purpose and your goals. Cassie, I appreciate your grumpy cat personality coupled with your Cheshire cat grins. When you arrived every day, I was never sure what I was gonna get when you were sitting there on the steps. Always an adventure, but I appreciate you. Joe, I appreciate your enthusiasm. Everything you do is an extreme level but it has served you well. Samantha, I appreciate your final push to complete your graduation requirements and you may even have surprised yourself and thank you for working so hard. Brittany, I appreciate your ability to believe in yourself and your abilities. You really didn't need us to help you set your goals but thank you for allowing us to help and support you. You faced down some pretty big demons and continued to come to YBA without looking back or feeling sorry for yourself. So Brittany, don't stop believing. I appreciate your strong sense of self. You always know who you are and what you want and you deserve only good things and by the way, you do present very well. Calvin, I appreciate your goofy self. Who can resist that smile and your engaging qualities as you tried to convince me always to be able to do whatever it is you wanna do. Sarah, I appreciate your willingness to be open and trust and to trust the process. Initially, as you mentioned, you were a bit reluctant to try new things or participate in activities but slowly you set aside your fears and your anxiety and achieve so many goals. Dom, I appreciate your determination and everything you do. You have the potential to be an articulate leader and I hope you choose to use those gifts positively to influence the people around you. Beatrice, I appreciate your generosity. You have always shown, I can't even talk, shown such deep inner strength to face and overcome your anxieties. You're an inspiration to your teachers and your peers. Anthony, I appreciate your intelligence. You are the quiet leader who knows how to dazzle them with your brilliance. Christian, I appreciate your confidence. Nothing could ever shake you or even slightly threaten that self-assurance. Even crutches didn't slow you down for too long. Esvin, I appreciate your bravery. You too have faced some profound life altering situations this year but you remain focused on your goals and continued to move forward. Brian, I appreciate your growth that you've made this year in spite of yourself. You often seem to want everything to be a fight or an argument. But I have enjoyed witnessing your steady progress towards self-confidence and deeper self-awareness as the anger turned to joy. Alexandra, I of course appreciate your love of horses and your effervescence. We connected immediately because of our common bond and that smile brightens anyone's day. John, I appreciate your curiosity and quick mind. You just get it. Now please put that to good use. I always enjoyed being part of your process as you work through those ideas in your head to make a plan to move forward. Dean, I appreciate your steadfast and unwavering manner. No matter what day it was or what was in store, you never seem to alter your approach. Ty Lee, I appreciate your quiet and humble nature and that sly grin, let's see. As if you always knew something that we didn't. Sometimes we weren't sure what you were thinking and we appreciate your ability to make snowflakes. Oh, yeah, remember, yeah. CJ, I appreciate your reliability. I always knew that you had the ability to be whoever you choose to be, keep tromping through life of those big work boots and go on to realize your dreams. And Grace, I appreciate your compassion, your strength and your leadership. You often put others' needs before your own, which sometimes derailed your own progress, but you are a strong, competent young lady who has the will and the ability to achieve all that you set out to accomplish. You are truly distinctive individuals who have faced various challenges and roadblocks on your journey. You have developed qualities which will allow you to move forward and transform your lives despite all your challenges. I sincerely appreciate you all and having been part of your journey. You have a tremendous amount of courage and strength that inspires each of us every day. You know that you can and should no longer listen to those who ever doubted your talents and your abilities. Listen to your inner voice. You have trusted the process, you started strong, you finished stronger, thank you. We are now ready to confer the certificates to the students and I would like to invite this amazing group of people that I have the honor to work with every day. They care about kids, they understand kids, they make my life terrific and easy. They work so hard every day selflessly to give to this group of students to ensure that they get everything they need and I don't think you're gonna find a better group anywhere, so please come to the stage. Rodney Rashard, math teacher and hospitality teacher. Our lead vocationer extraordinaire, JMG specialist and culinary arts and her Samantha Funk, our AmeriCorps Vista. Further in the darkness, we have Tom Cain, the director of student development and he will read the blurbs that our staff has so geniusly written about all of these students. This is where you find out how your teachers really feel about it. So, first to receive her certificate, please welcome Grace Wiley. Grace came aboard this ship as a fearless and ferocious leader. Her ability to weather through all storms and navigate her teammates through rough seas is evidence of her innate leadership skills. These skills came out not only in the classroom and job site but also at JMG's career development conference. As one of only five students who was selected, Grace worked tirelessly to ensure that her shipping crew was in tip-top shape for the event. Do you get this C thing which was out of the conference, Grace has further filled the sails of her ship with several accomplishments such as culinary certificate and an NCCI. On top of those accomplishments, she is one of the few who has received her 60 hours of work ready and who submitted artwork into Casco Bay Addison's annual art show. And it was purchased too, right? Grace has many goals for the future including college but we know that whatever path she takes, she'll be a solid anchor to her coworkers. Good luck as you sail out of this small harbor and into the great wide ocean. Grace, please welcome our second graduate, Anthony Machiavelli. When Anthony showed up, it was not clear whether he would use his powers for good or evil. There was a slow humming sound coming from his brain that had all of the adults in the room nervous. Fortunately for us, his intentions were good and our lives were spared. Anthony kept a pretty low profile while conversely slaying every dragon we brought before him. On job site, he quickly earned both a culinary arts and copy of the certification and helped with all of our on and off site building projects. In classroom, he was equally adept and made short work of not only his high set tests but every other certification possible including OSHA, TEN and hospitality. He completed over 30 hours of community service which included serving food at Preble Street Resource Center, weeding at Wolfneck and a variety of other engagements. Anthony's ability proved far greater than his stature and his momentum is just beginning to grow. He will sign up for classes, actually did sign up for classes the other day at SMCC for the fall and hopes to work one day, to one day work in the field of nutrition and fitness. We'll miss you Anthony, but we sure as some day you'll be signing our checks. You little genius. I please welcome our next graduate, Tiley Tran, face your admirers here. From the very start, Tiley showed a love for coppentry. She entered the job site with enthusiasm where the working downstairs in the shop are completing community service with her peers. On job site in the kitchen or in the classroom, Tiley quietly takes in the world around her showing interest and understanding through an enthusiastic nod or a quiet laugh. Throughout the year, Tiley has demonstrated that she is no stranger to hard work and that she will not give up until she completes a task to her satisfaction. This skill will serve her well as she transitions into her dream job at UPS. Tiley, we know your positive attitude and work ethic will take you far. We can't wait to see what the future has in store for you. Congratulations. Please welcome our next graduate, Alexandra Remington. Alexandra, or as she prefers we call, Alexandra was always a ray of sunshine. She was constantly smiling and upbeat. Her path through YBA was a bit rocky at times, but as she would say, it's complicated, Sonny. Alexandra was a hard worker and has passed almost everything available at YBA. Alexandra has her NCCR, culinary arts and hospitality certificates. She has passed four high sets and is waiting for her score on the writing test. Xander wants to pursue a career where she can put her years of working with horses to use. Horses? Horses. Yeah, best wishes and we will miss your smile and bubbly personality, congratulations. Please welcome our next graduate, Samantha Durant. Samantha came to us in January with a little extra bundle of challenges which leaped and bounded over with amazing skills. She is an extremely smart young woman who completed her graduation requirements in record time. Though she was quiet and shy while she was here, we were able to see her fire and determination within her studies. An imaginative soul who has an interest in the arts, she excelled in her creative writing assignments in English. She looks forward to finishing her very last high set test and attending SMCC in the fall. We look forward to seeing her achieve her goals, congratulations. Please welcome our next graduate, Beatrice Keaton. Ms. Beatrice Keaton, 10, not 10. Keaton. He writes. Arrived with a clear idea of what she wanted to achieve while in our program. She was tired of typical academics and knew that she wanted to complete her academic work and certifications. Then move on to a career in cosmetology. Beatrice's dry humor was ever present, shining through with a witty comment and a little smile. While at YBA, Beatrice earned a two year gain in math as well as a certification in NCCR and guest service goal. Beatrice, we're excited to continue working with you as you complete your high sets and work toward your goal of attending cosmetology school, congratulations. Please welcome our next graduate, Cassandra Dona. Speaking of cosmetology, this one has a referring to it too, let's say. If Cassie had been described as a hairstyle when she first entered YBA, it would be like Albert Einstein's. While there was great potential, it needed to be organized and shaped. Now Cassie's hairstyle is much more like Beyoncé's. Professional, spirited, intelligent, and just amazing. Cassie was a mystery when we first met her as she tried to hide behind her blonde locks, but she has surprised us and herself in more ways than one. During her time at YBA, Cassie achieved her culinary, NCCR, and front desk certification for hospitality. Cassie hopes to continue her love of cosmetology at the Empire Beauty School, where she will literally make everyone's hair go from Albert Einstein's to Beyoncé's in a matter of minutes. We know that you'll make the world a more beautiful place wherever your passions take you, congratulations. Please welcome our next graduate, Brittany Freeman. Brittany always brings her own crowd with her, that's very good. Picture this, Brittany's sailing on the SS public school. It's sinking and she's in desperate need of rescuing, except she's not really in need of rescuing because she's intelligent and courageous enough to take on any large disaster that might hit her. After all, she found her way to Washington and has been sailing her own ship since. During her time with us, Brittany has accomplished many certifications, including her NCCR and culinary art certification. She has also made steady progress towards achieving her high set. Brittany was also one of the select few who attended JMG's career development conference where she competed against other schools with her interviewing, marketing, and public speaking skills. Brittany is also one of the students that has completed her work-ready credentials. Brittany is smart and motivated enough to do anything she downwell sets her mind to. We wish you smooth sailing for the future, Brittany Tallulah Freeman. Please welcome our next graduate, Logan Burke. Logan joined us in January and easily adapted to become a valid member of our wonderful student community. His sarcasm and stubbornness has often given us a run for our money, but when he has his goals in sight, he has the ability to focus and meet the challenges head on instead fastly. He's looking forward to working this summer in a landscaping business and hopes that this experience and many others will lead him to his dream of owning his own landscaping business. 1-800-GOT-A-TREE, how is that the end of the business? Congratulations. Please welcome our next graduate, John Sullivan. John showed up at school in quietly but consistently swept through everything we put before him. Or maybe it was his twin. Hot-telling, but regardless. One of the two left a wake of accomplishments in their path. He was an amazing YBA representative at JMG CDC. On job site, he was a quick study and seemed to take pleasure in helping his peers. In classroom, he was an analytical thinker and a good contributor to discussions and threshold Thursdays. By the end of the year, he'd volunteered at Wolfsnack Farm, Hamcatcher, Preble Street, and Portland Housing, Climb Mountains, and Icefish. He built a birdhouse and garden boxes and finished his NCCR, Culinary Arts certificate, most of his high set, and nearly every other certificate he could earn. John is very smart and will go on to do great things. We'll miss you John and hope you start by once in a while to fill us in on your adventures. Congratulations. Please welcome our next graduate, Mia Galant. Mia is a pistol who's never afraid to speak her mind or to stand up for others. Although she starred a few months later than most of her peers, Mia quickly demonstrated that this would have no bearing on her success at YBA. Upon turning 17, Mia completed each high set with ease while also earning certifications in Culinary, NCCR, and front desk. Mia is a talented writer who loves to share her stories and reflections with others. Mia's compassion for others will be ideal as she works to become a social worker for struggling teenagers. Mia, we can't wait to see where your drive will lead you. Congratulations. So Joe, could you go around the back and come across? We have to do a little theatrics here, all right? Because I want to thank Joe for introducing our Threshold Thursday sessions. Every Thursday we had a session where businesses, employers would come in and Joe introduced the session by giving a creative little performance on how difficult and daunting it can be to step over the threshold from being a student to a career. And so we thought it would be fitting if Joe could demonstrate for all of you just what that was because this is definitely a daunting task to graduate and go out into the real world. So, Joe, would you please step over the threshold here at graduation? Take some adjusting. There you go, there you go, oh, yeah. Yes, yes, yes. Oh, whoa, can he do it, can he do it? Well, to do whatever we ask no matter how it is. So, James came to us on a rocket ship from the land of volume where everything that was said was yelled loudly. Although we were skeptical of his commitment at first, he has proven to be a pretty big deal and we're happy for it. By the end of the year, Joe racked up considerable experience working for Portland Housing, volunteering at Wolf Neck Farm and Preble Street Soup Kitchen, building flower boxes and even going ice fishing. Additionally, he managed to finish his high set, his NCCR, culinary arts and hospitality certificates, OSHA 10, Serve Safe, and every other important piece of the program we put before him. Joe has been accepted and has enrolled at SMCC where he plans to major in business administration in the fall. A true dynamo, it'll be tough to find is equal. You'll be missed, Joe, but we know you'll miss us more so, of course. You'll be back to brag about all the cool things you're learning in college next year. Congratulations. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. Please welcome our next graduate, Sarah Gower. Sarah came to YBA with some reservations, but opted to give our program a chance, as she described in her wonderful speech there. She initially showed up sporadically and without enthusiasm, but soon became a constant in the classroom and on the job site. While at YBA, Sarah worked diligently to get every certification available. She earned her ProStar, Serve Safe, NCCR, OSHA 10, and certifications in full hospitality areas, including front desk, restaurant server, maintenance, and room attendant. Sarah began her high sets as soon as she was eligible and quickly completed reading, science, and social studies. Writing and math proved to be a bit more of a challenge, yet she never allowed that challenge to stop her from reaching her goals. Instead, she worked each day until she completed her writing and is continuing to work without hesitation toward her math. Sarah, remember that you are more capable than you give yourself credit for. Keep working hard, and we know your ambition will take you far. Congratulations. Please welcome our next graduate, Esfand Perez. Esfand was our resident chameleon. It was the most miraculous thing. He'd be sitting right in front of you, and the next minute you looked, he'd disappeared into the background, all but invisible. He would periodically speak and give away his position, but in general, he remained hidden. Esfand's strength was his perseverance. He'd quietly study something, appearing under it, and then when you half expected him to simply evaporate into a cloud of mist, his pen would move and the answers would appear. On job site, Esfand participated in the renovation of an apartment for pool and housing, helped build a shed for camp catcher, and planted vegetables at Wolf's Neck. In classroom, he completed his hospitality certification and made great advances toward earning his high set. We hope to see his face this summer so we can finish other pots and pieces, but if not, we're sure he'll be quietly conquering one obstacle after another, or at very least, getting a great tan. Congratulations. We welcome our next graduate, Christian Molina Mendez. Christian was the elder statesman of this year's cohort, and he carried himself with an air of maturity and at times grace. At other times, he was just as much of a goop as the others, but we still loved him. Christian spent the year renovating the apartment for pool and housing, pulling weeds at Wolf's Neck, serving meals at Preble Street Soup Kitchen and completing nearly all of the certificates we offered here at YBA. Christian was more of a classroom kid than a job site, though, and worked best with a pen and paper than a hammer and nail. If we don't see him this summer, we can only imagine it's because he's doing great work and is too busy making money to care. We'll miss you, Christian, but your spirit lives on. Congratulations. Our next graduate, please welcome Brian Reed. When we first met Brian, he was resistant and wanted little to do with many of the components of our program. Upon being asked to complete a task, he was not interested in. Brian never hesitated to express his opinion. Despite his initial resistance, Brian quickly showed just how capable he was. With humor and sarcasm, Brian completed his NCCR, served safe, a maintenance certification, and a gain in math. He has recently decided to pursue his high sets and pass the first one with flying colors, and we know he'll pass the remaining tests with ease. Brian, thank you for your ever-present sense of humor. We're excited to help you as you continue to reach your goals. Congratulations. Please welcome our next graduate, Destin Broadley. Payshara Meyers, do you hear me? Destin is one of our students who has conquered the challenges that come with transportation to and from YBA. Coming all the way from Sanford and waking up in the early hours of the morning and putting in long hours, his determination to finish the program has been admirable. He is a bright and lively addition to the program, and we're glad to have met him and worked with him. He has a summer position lined up at Water Country, New Hampshire, and we look forward to hearing about all his splashing summer. Congratulations. Please welcome our next graduate, Dominic Johnson. Yeah, please, please. Dominic has the gift of taking anything that would normally be an hour long and finishing it in 15 minutes. This applied to almost everything in his life, except for brakes, which for him usually ran longer. To his credit, his burst of productivity outpaced his apathy and his accomplishments piled up. By the end of the year, Dom had finished his NCCR, OSHA, Culinary Arts, three hospitality certificates, and four of his five high sense. He wasn't too fond of job site, but he loved adventure and experiencing new things as long as it didn't dirty his sneakers. Bravely enough, he helped renovate an apartment, serve food at Preble Street, pulled weeds at Wolf's Neck, erected a shed at Camp Ketchup, built garden blocks as hiked mountains, and even went ice fishing all while texting. We'll miss you, Dom, but as long as we don't lose those giant headphones you wore, you'll always be remembered. Congratulations. Please welcome our next graduate, Riley Carpett. Riley showed up at school looking like an indie rocker, ready to stomp boots and dance around. It was hard to ascertain his level of commitment or ability, but these questions were quickly answered and the answer was high ability. On job site, Riley devoured the material put before him and quickly mastered concepts and converted them into action. He used his skills to earn his carpentry and culinary art certifications, renovated an apartment in Portland, built a shed for Camp Ketchup, and participate in other various shop projects. In the classroom, Riley was studious but fun. He paid attention when the information was pertinent and played games when it wasn't. Additionally, he climbed mountains when ice fishing completed over 30 hours of community service and basically took advantage of every opportunity presented to him. We're not sure what the summer holds for Riley, but we can sure it'll be Gucci and gold, baby. Please welcome our next graduate, CJ Waters. CJ was our resident expert on most things mechanical. When he wasn't fixing lawn mowers or chalking cars, he was cutting wood and nailing things together. CJ was a man of action. During the year, he helped renovate an apartment for Portland housing, planted vegetables at Wolf Neck Farm, built a shed at Camp Ketchup and volunteered at Preble Street. Additionally, he completed his high set, his construction culinary and hospitality certificates, OSHA 10, and in the process of registering it, as is in the process of registering at SMCC for their automotive program. CJ wasn't much for the city, but luckily there's plenty of broken down cars in the country for him to make a living. We'll miss him, but hopefully he'll swing through maybe in a sweet lifted truck and tell us all the cool things he's doing. Congratulations. Please give a warm welcome to our next graduate, Dean Train. The teacher couldn't resist this, I can tell. If YBA was a train, Dean would be the caboose at his laid back demeanor, as his laid back demeanor and easygoing attitude. While at YBA, Dean chugged along at many subjects, making incredible gains in areas such as reading and math. Dean also worked diligently in the vocational subjects. Often, Dean would be found as the only one washing dishes at the end of culinary or cleaning up the shop after a crazy morning. Dean has achieved his pro stock culinary certification and is close to finishing his NCCI. We wish Dean the best of luck in whatever station he rolls into next, congratulations. Last but not least, please welcome Calvin Goldra. Calvin is similar to a couple of other famous Calvin's. He reminds us of Calvin Klein, because he always daunts the latest fashions and sneakers and sportswear. Our Calvin is also very much like Calvin Coolidge, because he's a man of few words. A few yeps and notes is being verbose for Calvin, maybe a chat about this. But in his quiet, sartorial way, Calvin has achieved certificates in NCCI, OSHA 10, culinary arts, serve safe, guest service gold, front desk representative, restaurant server, and maintenance employee. Calvin of Calvin and Hobbes fame said that his only regret was blowing the best day of his life while he was so young. We know that you have many of your best days ahead, Calvin. Go forth and live them, congratulations. Thank you. Now we have one piece of the ceremony, but I did want to let you know after the students perform their last act, they're going to proceed out through the auditorium. We're asking them to gather for pictures before you grab them, and then you can have your pictures with them. We also have the refreshments in the back that we would like you to share with us. So graduates, please stand. Don't do anything yet, just stand up. Okay, the turning of the tassel symbolizes transition, the movement from one phase of a person's life to another. With all the hard work and tremendous accomplishments that these students have attained, I believe they will transition into the next phase of their lives with the skills necessary to achieve even greater things. I have great respect for each one of you, for your determination, your passion, and hard work. At this time, please take your tassel and turn it from right to left, signifying.