 Each year, nearly 2,000 main students drop out of high school. Recently, learning works held a graduation ceremony for 15 students in their Youth Building Alternatives program. Despite the hardships they have endured, these students have found the courage to overcome their past and now look forward to a brighter future. Tom was there to hear their stories. On a Friday morning in the Ryan's Auditorium of the Portland Library, people filled the seats, camera crews lined up in the back, and more seats had to be added in. Executive Director of Learning Works, Ethan Strimling, and Governor of the state of Maine, Paula Page, took their seats in front of the assembly. But they were not the main attraction. After some brief introductions, commencement music was heard and the 2012 graduates of Learning Works Youth Building Alternatives processed down the center aisle. Youth Building Alternatives is a nationally accredited educational program that works with young men and women who have dropped out of high school and provides them with classroom instruction passing the GED exams and job site skill training for future employment, as well as opportunities to give back to the community in the form of service learning projects and volunteer service. Dory Waxman, former Portland City Councilor, attends these graduations regularly and mentioned why it is so important to her. These kids have worked hard in the community. They've become part of the community and they know the importance of education and getting a job. Gene Wynod-Vickers, Director of Educational Excellence at Learning Works, commented on why this graduation is so important to these students. For many of these students, they've had multiple years of challenges, obstacles, and this is a place where they've actually finally achieved what they hoped they set out to do. The first to speak were two students. Rihanna Tuttle talked about individual responsibility as a key factor in bringing about positive change. From all these wonderful people in my life, I've learned that no one can change your life. You can only change if you have the desire to change. I've learned to love myself and I've learned that life is what you make of it and that your decision to make changes your life into a new direction. I've made some important choices in my life and I've learned from these choices and I know that all the graduates are the same. Shakira DiPietri talked about her teachers at Youth Building Alternatives and the impact they had on her success in the program. My teachers were always there whenever I needed them. They helped keep me motivated, stay positive, and most importantly, they helped me spread my education by helping me obtain my GED. I love my behavior because they understand where you're coming from and they'll help you as much as they can to get you where you're going in the future. Sonia Waterman, director of Youth Building Alternatives, read an anonymous essay of one of the students who referred to the great personal changes he went through in the program. Before YBA, I attacked everything with a bad attitude, a special school. I would skip school and do stupid, crazy things without even considering the backlash I could get. I never bit my tongue, which led to a lot of problems. I still speak my mind, but I've learned to control my memory. Back then, I would never have admitted that I brought a lot of problems on myself or in fact that I was irresponsible. I'm not trying to say I'm perfect but definitely not, but I can say I've improved myself, which is all that counts. I live by saying sometimes the wrong choices bring us to the right places and I think the past couple of years have been bad. Ethan Strimling praised the determination of the graduating students and how they've inspired him. 10% that said, no thank you. You don't get to let me fall through the cracks. You don't get to see me on the street anymore. You don't get to say I'm not going to get my education today because I'm going to get it and I'm going to step in and step up and have some of those wrong things happen that help you make some right choices. Students, I'll just say it's beyond inspirational what you mean to me. Governor LePage in his keynote address talked about his own experiences meaning challenges in his youth and the words that inspired him. If it is to be, it's up to me. But the one thing that stayed with me my whole life what I want to say about that is it doesn't mean that does not mean that you go through that life alone. That's just the opposite. It means you go intelligently and think it through. And in the essay, we all have our own little quirks that you just ask the person. Through crowd of tribulations and remembering it is to be, it's up to me, I succeed. You've already started a road to success. My urge you to be able to do that is important that you remember what we do. Remember that you can only succeed if you put yourself in a position to succeed. You are the challenge of your life. Graduates were individually described by their accomplishments, handed their GED certificate and shook hands with the staff and teachers of the program. Ethan Strimling later commented on the resilience of this class. This is an incredibly resilient class. We see a lot of kids who they're in and out within six months and a lot of these kids have actually been here longer than a year. I'm here with it and stuck with it and that's really significant. Just to be able to see a kid say to themselves I'm not going to give up until I get across the finish line. This is Tom Handel for Community Update.