One hundred and sixty-six students got their high school diplomas on May 23 from BaSix Knowledge Academy in Decatur. The nontraditional school serves teens to adults who didn’t get diplomas in high schools and returned to school to improve their chance of getting better jobs. Since its launch 16 years ago, the school has graduated more than 1,000 students who have gone on to attend major colleges and universities and joined military branches and the work force across the United States. The 2013 graduation, held at Ray of Hope Christian Church, was the school’s eighth ceremony. Jeremy Henry, a rising senior at Morehouse College and a 2009 BaSix graduate, delivered the commencement address. For more information on the school, visit www.basixknowledgeacademy.com.

A dozen DeKalb graduates are going to college this fall on full-ride 2013 Gates Millennium Scholarships. The seniors from nine high schools are among 87 metro Atlanta students named April 26 by the United Negro College Fund, which manages the Gates Millennium Scholars Program. Eight of the 12 students are from South DeKalb high schools. Arabia Mountain High has three recipients, the highest number of any DeKalb school. The group includes two valedictorians and two salutatorians. The South DeKalb scholars are Ayomide Charles Akin-David, Karri Thomas, and Morgan McCall from Arabia Mountain High; Lila Siwakoti, Clarkston High; Terrence Dixon, Ronald E. McNair High; Ashley Wrushen, Martin Luther King Jr. High; Kaven Bell, Miller Grove High; and Natasha Monroe, Redan High. Ayomide Akin-David is Arabia Mountain’s valedictorian and his classmate Morgan McCall is one of the school’s three salutatorians. Jonothan Smith is the MLK Jr. High valedictorian, and Terrence Dixon is the salutatorian at McNair High School. Last year, 15 DeKalb students got Gates Scholarships. The Georgia scholars are among 1,000 named this year from 46 states, the District of Columbia, and five U.S. territories. This year, another DeKalb County student, DuMarkus Davis, who attends the online American High School based in Hollywood, Fla., also won a Gates Scholarship. Even though he lives in Decatur, he is counted among Florida’s award recipients. The good-through-graduation Gates Scholarships, worth hundreds of thousands of dollars to each scholar, can be used to pursue degrees in any undergraduate major at the accredited college or university of the recipient’s choice. Michael L. Lomax, president and CEO of the UNCF, says the Gates Millennium Scholars Program is not only an investment in the futures of these students, but also in the country’s economic and social strength and competitiveness. “Today more than ever it is important that our young people get the education they need, and that we need them to have in order to remain competitive in the 21st century,” he said. “For the 20,000 young men and women who will attend college as Gates Millennium Scholars, the financial support, leadership training, mentoring, and academic and social support they receive will enable them to become college graduates and our next generation of leaders.” Since its inception in 1999 with a $1.6 billion endowment from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the scholarship program has funded 20,000 high-performing, low-income students to attend 800 private and public schools – among them, Ivy League colleges and flagship state universities across the country. Arabia Mountain’s Morgan McCall, who will attend the University of Virginia and major in economics and sociology, says she is aiming for a career in consulting for a financial institution, teaching at the university level, or in market analysis. “I’m still very excited and surprised,” said Morgan, who is one of her school’s three 2013 salutatorians. “I’m especially thrilled for my mom who helped me through the very long, very complicated application process. I’m glad she gets to see all her love, guidance and support pay off.” Classmate Ayomide, who goes by his middle name, Charles, is headed to Stanford University to major in computer engineering. “I want to learn to use codes effectively and write my own software so that I can help bring electricity and other utilities to underserved areas here and in developing countries around the world,” he said. Terrence Dixon of McNair High says he will double-major in political science and business at Howard University. “Without the Gates Scholarship, I would have had to stay in Georgia,” he said. Redan High’s Natasha Monroe said she had no particular expectations after going through the long, complex application process for the Millennium Scholarship so she was truly surprised when she got the award letter. “The wonderful reality sank in,” she said. “It was a stress reliever. The biggest thing about college is that a lot of people are going to come out in debt, but I won’t have that issue.” Natasha, who is a lifelong animal lover, says she will major in veterinary medicine at Tuskegee University. Seventeen-year-old DuMarkus, the online high school graduate, is an aspiring classical concert solo violinist. He attended Chamblee Charter High until the 10th grade and completed his 11th and 12th grades at the online American High School. He will attend Kennesaw State University’s School of Music in the fall. “It’s just such a relief to know that we have a way of paying for college,” he said. “That removes a lot of pressure.” Eighty-six percent of the students in the Gates Scholarship Program graduate, 38 percent higher than the national graduation rates for all students. The UNCF says this is comparable to the graduation rates for students from high-income families.

As the Class of 2013 marches to strains of Pomp and Circumstance while family and friends roar their approval at graduation ceremonies through May 26, its graduates know a world of new opportunities awaits. Interim Superintendent Michael Thurmond says it is no easy task these days to earn the right to walk across the graduation stage. “By graduating high school, our grads have carved a path for their future far brighter than if they hadn’t walked across the stage,” he writes in a graduation message to the class. “The skills they used to earn that diploma – hard work and determination – are the same skills they can apply to excel in a college career, in honing a new skill or going to work at a new job.” The senior class sizes ranged from as few as six at Margaret Harris Comprehensive to 401 at Lakeside High. Altogether, 5,771 are up for high school diplomas and certificates this year, down from 5,932 seniors in 2012. Just three years ago, DeKalb’s senior class was 6,130. The final number of 2013 seniors who will get diplomas wasn’t available at press time Thursday. The class departs the DeKalb School System at a time of great turmoil. The district is entering its sixth month on accreditation probation, placed there by its accrediting agency – the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools – for governance and other issues. Six of nine members of the School Board who are releasing their diplomas this week were appointed by Gov. Nathan Deal, while the district’s elected board members, removed from office by Deal, are awaiting word on their fate. As in the past, there are compelling stories of personal triumph over adversity among this year’s graduates such as Southwest DeKalb’s Coreyonna Welch who battled ovarian cancer to complete her senior year, rise to the top of her class, and become valedictorian. And there’s Stone Mountain’s valedictorian Cyrianne Keutcha who spoke little English when she arrived in DeKalb from Cameroon with her family just four years ago but is now top of her class with a 3.987 GPA. As the graduates, their families and friends pack stadiums, colleges and the Georgia Dome for one of life’s most important milestones, they will be challenged by their class valedictorians and salutatorians, high-profile speakers from business and government, elected officials, and Deal to make the best of the opportunities ahead. In her valedictory speech at their May 26 graduation at the Georgia Dome, Southwest DeKalb High magnet valedictorian Brittany Williams says she will tell her classmates that it’s time to get more focused. “Graduation is just the beginning of the rest of our lives,” she said. “We’re responsible for making our own decisions now and we won’t have our parents to hold our hands anymore.” Willie James Moody, Miller Grove’s valedictorian, will tell his classmates that success depends on much more than hard work. “They have to have the ‘will’ and the ‘hunger’ that drives them forward and makes it possible to achieve goals,” he said. Last Sunday, inspiration speakers who included clergy, public officials, community leaders, and graduates of their school offered praise, insight and advice to help usher them into the next phase of their education and their lives. At its May 19 pre-commencement service, motivational speaker Keith L. Brown told Stephenson High’s seniors to be true to their own principles and avoid letting others influence their core beliefs. He also gave advice on meeting and overcoming life’s challenges, both personal and professional. “Don’t ever think ‘impossible,’” Brown said. “Think ‘I’m possible.’” Pastor Jeffrey Wallace of Peace Baptist Church sounded similar themes speaking to Redan High’s seniors. He urged the young men and women to be independent in their assessment of the world and to courageously blaze their own path in life. Cedar Grove High graduates invited back their 2009 valedictorian Denisha Thomas to speak to them at their pre-commencement service. Thomas, who is graduating this year with an engineering degree from North Carolina A&T, told them never think that they are not good enough. “There is an abundance of potential in this world,” said Thomas, who garnered $1 million in scholarship offers during her senior year at the Title 1 school. “You can be a black engineer. You can own your own legal business. It’s not going to be easy. You are going to be tested, but testing makes you stronger.” Senior class sizes ranged from as few as six at Margaret Harris Comprehensive to 401 at Lakeside High. The final number of 2013 graduates who will get high school diplomas wasn’t available at press time Thursday. As in the past, there are compelling stories of personal triumph over adversity among this year’s graduates such as Southwest DeKalb’s Coreyonna Welch, who overcame ovarian cancer to complete her senior year, rise to the top of her class, and become valedictorian. And there’s Stone Mountain’s valedictorian Cyrianne Keutcha, who spoke little English when she arrived in DeKalb from Cameroon with her family just four years ago but is now top of her class with a 3.987 GPA. The class of 2013 leaves the DeKalb School System at a time of great turmoil. The district is entering its sixth month on accreditation probation, placed there by its accrediting agency, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, for governance and other issues. Six of nine members of the School Board who are releasing their diplomas this week were appointed by Gov. Nathan Deal, while the elected board members removed from office by Deal are awaiting word on their fate. But board members believe better times are ahead for the district as they work to meet the SACS required actions. Appointed member Thad Mayfield, who represents District 9, will release diplomas at Martin Luther King Jr. High, Arabia Mountain and Southwest DeKalb on Saturday and Sunday. He said graduates will see increasing opportunity in the Georgia job market. “I’m optimistic about their chances,” Mayfield said. “The economy is beginning to show what it will look like moving forward, and it appears graduates will have more educational and career options.” Mayfield said that they are seeing growth in the number of specialized technology schools that offer a path to high-paying skilled tech jobs for students who prefer to enter the job market immediately and possibly attend a four-year university later. Thurmond says that a DeKalb County high school diploma opens the doors to new learning opportunities throughout the community, state and nation. “A DeKalb County diploma means that you are a closer, and not a quitter,” he says. “It means that you finish what you start.”