April 15, 2024 | Jeffrey Good
Wichita Acceleration Academies (WAA) celebrated the Class of 2024 in a ceremony featuring inspiring words, big hugs and tears of gratitude and joy.
Each of the 48 grads had their own story of triumphing over adversity to realize their goal of a high school diploma. Some had dealt with unstable home lives and the need to enter the foster care system; some needed a flexible schedule so they could work to support their families; some became teenage parents and needed a school where they could care for their children as well as do their coursework; others needed a calmer environment and more one-on-one support than traditional schools can provide.
Brandy Gordon embraces a graduate.
“I am filled with a profound sense of joy and pride,” said Brandy Gordon, who served as life and career coach at the academy. “Each of you sitting before me has demonstrated extraordinary grit and perseverance throughout your journey, and it is an honor to be here to commend you on your resilience in the face of adversity and the many challenges you overcame to get to this day.”
The grads said they were grateful for the help they received from WAA educators, who cared about them on a level that stretched beyond the academic.
“Most of the teachers at my school didn’t care about you and what you need,” said grad Sue Mauricio. “At Acceleration Academies, they got to know me as a person and gave me the help I needed.”
Sue is a bright and hard-working young woman who hails from a Mexican family that came to the United States to build a better life. At her former, traditional high school in Kansas, she sometimes struggled to make herself understood in her second language, English.
And the standard school schedule didn’t allow her to work as much as she wanted to help her family pay the rent and buy groceries. “It was not a good fit for me because I wanted to help my mom economically.”
For a time, that pressure led her to drop out of high school. But at Wichita Acceleration Academies, she was able to balance her coursework with the demands of a job cleaning at a performing arts center. “It worked a lot better,” she said. “Whenever I got out of work or had a lunch hour, I could just do my schoolwork.”
Sue Mauricio receives diploma from WAA Director Chris Turner.
Antonios Michael is another grad who got his high school career — and his life — back on track with WAA.
Antonios Michael receives diploma from Turner.
Antonios, 20, said it wasn’t long ago that he wondered if he would earn a diploma. He slacked off at his old high school, dropping out junior year and then, after returning briefly, again in senior year.
“I can’t really blame anybody, just me being a hardhead,” he acknowledges. “I went to all my friends’ graduations and thought, ‘Dang, that could have been me if I had applied myself more.’ ”
He thought about settling for GED but then learned about Acceleration Academies in Wichita, Kansas, which offered a personalized curriculum and steady support — even when he hit a rough patch.
The roughest came when he got into legal trouble and had to spend several months in jail. But academy Director Chris Turner didn’t give up on him, welcoming Antonios back when he emerged from custody with a new resolve to turn his life around. “He told me I could do it.”
Turner wasn’t the only WAA team member who had his back. Registrar Sabrina Holcomb greeted him warmly when he arrived on campus, Graduation Candidate Advocate Rochelle Strack took a deep interest in his progress and provided steady encouragement, and Gordon shared wisdom from her own experience as a soldier, mom and guidance counselor.
“Miss Brandy, she gave me a lot of talks that motivated me,” says Antonios. “At the end of the day, she’s a mother.”
Click here for images from the day by photojournalist Travis Heying.
