Maya McFadden photos
Newly minted Wilbur Cross grad Isaila Mendez, with supportive family.
At Wednesday's summer school commencement.
After completing a month’s worth of summer high school credit recovery courses, 34 more New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) students — including Wilbur Cross’s Isaila Mendez — officially joined the graduating Class of 2024.
“I’m glad I didn’t give up,” she said with pride, diploma in hand and surrounded by family. “And I’m glad my mom didn’t let me give up, because I wanted to.”
District leaders and families celebrated those newly minted grads Wednesday during a summer school commencement ceremony held at Metropolitan Business Academy.
Members of the summer cohort received diplomas from Engineering and Science University Magnet School, Hill Regional Career High School, NHPS’ Gateway to College Program, James Hillhouse, Wilbur Cross, and New Haven Academy.
The summer program for credit recovery was hosted at Metro from July 1 to July 31, and allowed students to make up courses they had previously failed that prevented them from joining their peers at graduation ceremonies in June.
“You could’ve easily given up when you realized you were not getting to the finish line in June,” NHPS Supt. Madeline Negron told the graduates on Wednesday. But instead, each of the students overcame their challenges and seized the opportunities before them.
Families and friends cheered in Metro’s cafeteria for the graduates suited up in blue, red, or purple gowns as they each gave brief shoutouts to family, friends, teachers, and counselors who helped them along their journeys. Several students gave specific thanks to their moms for “always being there for me.”
Wednesday’s keynote speaker was New Haven Police Department Sgt. Ameer Williams, a New Haven native who shared with the crowd his journey from selling drugs in high school to incarceration to getting his record expunged and then becoming a police officer.
Williams said he was convicted in 1999, and served five years in prison and then three years on probation. It all began his senior year, when he started selling weed and crack cocaine, he said. He participated in college programs while in prison and upon his release was granted a pardon in 2012. He joined the police force in 2014 and was promoted to sergeant in 2021. Over the past ten years, Williams has helped over 600 individuals to receive pardons not just in Connecticut, but in Virginia and New York as well.
Now 47 years old, Williams told the class of 2024 Wednesday that he no longer is the person who had 13 felonies at once. He advised the students to “surround yourself with people that are gonna tell you, ‘no’ ” and “people who are going to tell you when you’re doing the wrong things.”
Cross graduate Isaila Mendez, 17, said Wednesday’s celebration made her proud of herself despite initially feeling bummed she didn’t graduate with her full Cross class. “I was kind of sad I didn’t receive it in June but I still graduated and made it,” she said.
As her younger brother, mom and her mom’s girlfriend cheered her on from the crowd, Mendez thanked her mom for not letting her give up.
She described falling behind in high school and having a tough time after transferring from high school in Stamford to New Haven.
Mendez was raised in New Haven but moved to Stamford for high school then moved back to New Haven and attended Cross for her senior year.
She said while she had support at Cross, she still fell through the cracks this year because it wasn’t enough. While attending summer school to retrieve her final credit in English, she said the supports doubled from teaching staff to administration.
“These teachers really pushed me and if I didn’t come they texted me. They even sent me my work and made sure I did it,” she recalled.
Mendez added that the experience was also better during summer school because her English class, which was larger than the previous one she failed at Cross, had two teachers and a teacher in training to support all students.
“I’m glad I didn’t give up and I’m glad my mom didn’t let me give up, because I wanted to,” she said.
Mendez will next enlist in the Army. Her advice to those heading into senior year is to ask for help and use your village.
Amaury Cooper: Overcoming slacking, doubt, and lack of support.
Cross graduate Amaury Cooper, 18, also only needed one English credit to graduate. He said that was due to him slacking and not taking high school serious his freshman and sophomore years. It wasn’t until it was too late that he realized catching up was harder than he expected.
“I thought high school was going to be easy. It wasn’t easy and then once I realized it wasn’t easy, but I realized it was easy to skip, I was always skipping,” he recalled.
He added that throughout his high school journey many of his friends and family members were telling him he would never get his diploma.
Summer school also wasn’t the easiest, he said. That’s due to having a week between the end of the school year and the start of summer school. Cooper struggled to adjust back to early mornings and a routine of getting to school.
“At first I didn’t want to be here at all. I was waking up late, getting here late, I didn’t want to do none of the work. But then I really just realized if I don’t do this, no diploma means I’ll get nowhere in life,” he said.
During summer school, Cooper was able to make a stronger bond with his English teacher than he did when taking English at Cross. His summer teacher showed him they care, he said, and that gave him to motivation to finish.
After securing the white diploma sleeve reading Wilbur Cross High School Wednesday, Cooper said it helped to give him motivation that he can achieve anything going forward.
His advice to high schoolers Wednesday was to focus on graduating on time. He next plans to follow his family’s footsteps and enlist in the Army.
Lauryn Bines: "Failure wasn't an option."
The sole student to graduate from NHPS’ Gateway to College Program Wednesday was 19-year-old Lauryn Bines. The Gateway to College program is a Gateway Community College-based program for students with outstanding high school credits who for a variety of reasons are not succeeding in a traditional high school setting.
Students like Bines instead take their high school courses at Gateway to fulfill their high school requirements and gain exposure to college-level courses.
Bines, who previously attended Amistad High School, said Gateway offered her “way more support” and made her feel welcomed immediately. The college setting helped her to also get back on track because it motivated her to attend a college next.
This year Bines found herself “in a hole and trying to get out,” but struggling to do so on her own.
She also struggled because her freshman and sophomore years were impacted by the Covid pandemic, which limited her access to getting support while remote. “It was going good until Covid hit. When Covid hit that’s when it went down for me,” she recalled.
As things continued to get rocky, she said, she sought out programs that could help.
The credits she needed to graduate Wednesday were for Civics and English. While taking those courses at Gateway, she said, “they don’t just give you the work and tell you to do it, they actually help you.”
Her concluding advice to high schoolers Wednesday was to take school seriously because “you got no time to waste. It’s so easy to slip and fall behind and it’s kind of hard to get back up.”
