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Academic Success During Pandemic
Youth Earns Diploma at Kent County Juvenile Detention Center
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (June 15, 2020) - The Kent County Juvenile Detention Center and Lighthouse Academy - Waalkes recently held a drive-thru graduation ceremony for a student who was able to overcome challenges to earn her diploma.
Family, facility staff, school staff and community stakeholders gathered to celebrate and congratulate Samantha Field for successfully graduating from high school during her time at the Juvenile Detention Center. Her teachers say Field has shown great perseverance, has good leadership skills, is highly motivated, and has a thirst for knowledge. History teacher, Lisa Ott, said, “Field is one of the most conscientious students I have had the privilege to know. She is focused and motivated to succeed. She has discovered her potential and has a bright future waiting for her to take.”
Field says she plans to attend community college and pursue a degree that will lead to a career in the criminal justice or culinary arts fields.
Find out what's happening in Grand Rapidsfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The Kent County Juvenile Detention Center and Lighthouse Academy have partnered to provide adjudicated youth with high quality academic instruction since 2012. The KCJDC and Lighthouse Academy have banded together to provide distance-learning opportunities and support to all youth who have entered the Juvenile Detention Center during the coronavirus pandemic.
Creativity and collaboration between teachers who are working from home and youth specialists working within the center provided an opportunity for students to continue to make academic progress while both the school and the detention center adhered to CDC and Health Department guidelines for safety.
Find out what's happening in Grand Rapidsfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
"The entire Lighthouse Academy team is proud of Sam for successfully reaching this important life milestone,” said Lucas Yax, Lighthouse Academy Assistant Superintendent of Residential and Juvenile Justice Youth School Programs. “She is an inspiration to the students and staff in the continued partnership between Lighthouse Academy and the Kent County Juvenile Detention Center. We all look forward to the great things she will do."