They say a picture is worth a thousand words. True. But in
this case, the above picture doesn’t tell the whole story. And what a story
these students tell. I took the photo when I was in Gary recently. I love these
students and thought I knew these students pretty well. But I was very wrong.
Several of these students have overcome obstacles to success
that you can’t imagine. And you won’t see in the picture. One overcame sickle
cell anemia. She was homebound for four years. We served her at her house
during this time. Another fought off blindness. Another was born prematurely
and was told he would never be able to tie his shoes. They all had to weather
through the pandemic, too. Through all this, these students succeeded!
The students above are many, not all, of our students who
are earning a full associate degree and/or career certifications prior to
graduating from our high school. They will participate in the Ivy Tech
Community College graduation ceremonies May 14 and then our high school
graduation ceremony May 23.
And while these are our Gary students, we have similar
stories in Indianapolis and Baton Rouge. One of our Indianapolis students told
me he never thought he would go to college. Today, he’s a junior and he’s
earned more than 30 college credits already and is planning to go to college.
Two young ladies in Baton Rouge told me the same thing, but today, they have 24
and 30 college credits. Each of these students will complete a full associate
degree prior to graduating from our high schools. Two of the students in the
picture above are on track to complete a full bachelor’s degree from IUN and
PurdueNW prior to graduating from our high school.
Yes, I’m inspired. This is why I get up every day. It is fun
to see students grab on to an opportunity to better themselves and succeed. And
succeed they do!
Thanks for your friendship!
Sincerely,
Kevin Teasley
Founder & President
GEO Foundation
