00124-25 Graduation Certification Ceremony for the Canton City School District Adult Community Program. My name is Marilyn Van Alman. I am the Director of the Adult Community Education Program, and this evening we celebrate the tenacity and the undefeated spirit of our students. Please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the invisible, with liberty. Thank you. Be seated. I would like to introduce the person who's going to be opening our program tonight, the Assistant Superintendent Jason Dixon. He truly understands the importance of the Adult Education Program, and he has always been very supportive of what we do. Good evening, everyone. On behalf of the administration and the Canton City Schools Board of Education, I'd like to welcome you all to our 2025 graduation ceremony. I'd like to take a moment quickly to recognize some
002of our special guests this evening. We have Board of Education members with us this evening, Mr. David Kaminsky and Vice President Kim Brown. We also have with us this evening Honorable Mayor of the City of Canton, Mr. Bill Scheer. So again, thank you again for taking time to be here this evening. Tonight we will be honoring graduates from our Medical Assistance Program, Practical Nurse Program, Medical Insurance Building and Coding Program, State Tested Nurse Assistant Program, Welding Program, and last but certainly not least, our ASPIRE Program. To our graduates, yes, to all of our graduates here this evening, please, please take a moment to look back and reflect on the time, commitment, and sacrifices that you have made to your program and to your future and congratulate yourself because you did it and you made it.
003Good job. Next, and I'm certainly, you've done this, but please, please be sure to thank all of your family, your friends, your teachers, your support staff, all who have encouraged you along the way, assisted you, and made sure that you never, ever gave up. How about a round of applause for those people? And as you celebrate this milestone this evening, please remember that your work is not done but has only begun. As you begin your new careers, know that you must continue to work hard, make sacrifices, and persevere through the difficult times. The Canton City Schools, our Board of Education, and all of the adult education staff here tonight believe in you and you will continue to, throughout, we will continue to support you throughout your journey. I would like to personally thank all of
004you for allowing the Canton City Schools and entrusting us in your education and I hope that we have all served you well. I would also like to thank our Director of Adult Education, Ms. Marilyn Van Almen, and the entire faculty and staff of the adult education program for making our programs the best in Stark County. How about a round of applause for them? So again, students, we are proud of you. Your teachers are proud of you. Your families are certainly most proud of you. Most of all, you should be proud of yourselves. Again, you did it. Congratulations. And again, on behalf of the Board of Education Administration, we wish you the best in your future endeavors, but please don't forget about us and stop back and see us again. Thank you and congratulations. Now we
005are going to hear from the Vice President of the Board of Education, Kim Brown. Good evening, everyone. To all of our guests, administrators and staff, the Board of Education, on behalf of the Board of Education, we welcome you here today. This is a momentous occasion that we should be celebrating. As a board member, this is one of the most rewarding duties is attending ceremonies such as this and giving diplomas to graduates and certificates and have the opportunity to speak with you. I'd like to thank Ms. Van Almen for offering this opportunity. I am truly honored. To our esteemed graduates, congratulations on reaching this pivotal moment to officially receive your diploma or certificates of completion. This achievement represents a testament of your unwavering determination and perseverance, a feat that no one can ever take from you.
006Be proud and be happy for you. We all know the sacrifices and the dedication it took to get to this very moment. I recently came across a quote that said, never be afraid to go after your dreams, regardless of the negative forecast that has been predicted upon us. Beat the odds, let the sun shine, life is not fair. You must keep striving for success. You went after your dreams, sometimes with a bit of reluctance, but you powered through. There have been some who said you wouldn't finish, but you demonstrated resilience and determination. You are receiving the fruits of your labor. Your academic achievements and practical experiences have illuminated the path of your success, despite obstacles you may have encountered along the way. You kept going. We encourage you to find time with your family to
007celebrate your accomplishments here and in the future. We also encourage you to enroll in other programs offered in our district to further enrich your future. We sincerely hope that your experiences have instilled newfound confidence, creativity, and open-mindedness. These qualities will empower you to seize the possibilities and pursue your dreams with the knowledge and skills you have acquired during your enrollment with Kansas City School District. Once again, we extend our heartfelt congratulations to you and your families. There's a couple other people that are quite important and couldn't do without them, and that is our P&P coordinator, Chris Hampy, our ASPIRE program coordinator, Derek Saylor, and our financial aid manager, Cody Horner. I knew that was going to happen. And I would like to thank the staff at the Timken Career Campus who supported and just stands
008behind our program, and I want to really, really thank them for supporting us. Laurie Madure, Allison Foster, and Jen Flynn, please stand. I know you're there, so stand. These three individuals keep the ship afloat. Phone calls, texts, emails, helping our students find their way to support the instructors, work with the financial aid manager, make sure every meeting is on time, they help write grants, and they always seem to give the best advice to everyone. To the outstanding people who put it all together, the secretaries at the adult community education, thank you. And I would like to have all of our ACT and ASPIRE instructors to please stand. Come on, it's your turn, let's go. Thank you. This has been a fantastic year for our program. We're leveling up and we're moving fast, and it has
009been great. First of all, we had an opportunity this year to partnership with ComQuest to promote mental health. Along with this, ComQuest trained all of our staff and all of our students, and that was a fantastic feat. Our essential and professional class for community professional partnering has been wonderful and has greatly improved, and I want to thank all of the outsiders, and when I say outsiders, I'm talking about the people that came in and mentored our students. Thank you so much. We couldn't have done it without you. The medical assistant program has an 87% passage rate this year. Yeah. The medical insurance billing and coding has a 100% certification pass rate. And by the way, every one of them made honors. The ASPIRE program has had a very busy year. 58 graduates, ASPIRE served 600
010students this year. 58 obtained secondary credentials, 77 transitioned to post-secondary, 13 obtained IET credentials, and thank you coordinator Derek Saylor for writing grants for $718,912. So as you can see, we've made it competitive against the other schools. Yes, and thank you so much, parents, family, friends. Again, I am writing what Mr. Dixon said. You've been a great support, and now you are seeing your people here. Derek Saylor now are going to give diplomas to his students. Good evening. Thanks for sharing this celebratory evening with us tonight. It's so amazing to see this wonderful crowd here to recognize the achievements of our students. I'm blessed to have the honor to serve as the coordinator for ASPIRE in Star County. And tonight we're here to recognize the 70 high school equivalency graduates as our class of 2024-2025.
011Though not all of them are here tonight, they're here with us in spirit and we're going to honor them all. I'd like to thank a couple people first, the Department of Higher Education here in Ohio and our state ASPIRE team for their support and guidance. I'd like to thank Canton City Schools, the Board of Education, and our support staff. Their dedication and support helps us fulfill the ASPIRE mission. I'd like to thank all of our community partners. Thanks for attending this evening. Your collaboration is an important part of our success and it helps us do what we do. Thank you to all the friends, family, community members who contributed in so many ways to this culmination of our graduates' journeys. Lastly, it's important to recognize our amazing instructors and staff. You're the heart of our
012program. But the real reason we're here tonight is to celebrate our graduates. Your persistence, your talent, your generosity should inspire everyone here this evening. Graduates, I hope that as you think back on this day in the future, you'll remember feeling proud, feeling strong, and knowing how capable you are. Please come forward to be recognized. And as we have a moment, I would just like to invite all of you to take advantage of the great programming we have at ASPIRE of Stark County. We can help you enter into any of the amazing CareerTech programs we have or other colleges or universities. We'd love to see you up on this stage next year. Naima Anderson Metcalf. Hayden Gutierre. Taylor Sinclair. Selena Mitchell Jones. Shayna Nelson. Haley Snyder. Alexis Feather. Sebastian Canto. Mikhail Brown. Kaitlyn Smith. Destiny Frazier.
013Mackenzie Bell. Cheyenne Coach. Natasha Halabah. Joseph Gower. Alexis Henry. Matthew Jarvis. Erin Carver. Cody Lewis. Sean Baker. Luisa Gongora. Jennifer Rodriguez. And Robert Cox. If you could please stand for me, Class of 2024-2025 High School Equivalency graduates, please turn your tassels to the left. Please turn your tassels to the left and let me be the first to congratulate you as 2024-2025 graduates. Congratulations. I would like to have the Welding students come forward please. They have some fans. Their names are on the thing. Courtney Allen. Certainly certified in 3G SMAW certification. Shambrian Harris. Certified 3G SMAW. Avery Ingram. Certified 3G SMAW. Is it Trinell? Trinell Mitchell. Certified 3G SMAW. Also certified in 3G GMAW. Dominique Morris. Certified 3G SMAW. Certified 3G GMAW. Brandon Perez. Graduating with honors. 3G SMAW certified. 3G GMAW certified. Congratulations. Keith Poole.
0143G SMAW certified. Javen Rohr. 3G SMAW certified. 3G GMAW certified. Shania Walker. Shania Walker. 3G SMAW certified. 3G GMAW certified. Congratulations. Medical insurance billing and coding. Please come forward. Kristen Burkett. Graduating with honors. National certification insurance billing and coding specialist. Congratulations. Kaylee? Kaylee Eamer. Graduating with honors. National certified insurance and coding specialist. Tamara Ensley. Graduating with honors. National certified insurance coding specialist. Congratulations. Cassandra Fontz. Graduating with honors. National certified insurance coding specialist. Look at you. Graduating with honors. National certified insurance coding specialist. Kiara King-Stevens and it's her birthday. Lana Christa Miller. Graduating with honors. Jasmine Scruggs. Graduating with honors. National certified insurance coding specialist. Look how pretty you look. Jasmine Scruggs. Graduating with honors. National certified insurance coding specialist. Beatrice Spears. Graduating with honors. National certified insurance coding specialist. Medical assistant program. Please come forward.
015Okay, stay here. Nikesha, right? Nikesha Anthony. Certified medical assistant. National certified phlebotomy technician. Anne Beaver. Certified medical assistant. National certified phlebotomy technician. Congratulations. Look how pretty you look. Wagner Williams. National certified phlebotomy technician. Tia Henderson. Certified medical assistant. And national certified phlebotomy technician. That's it? Okay. Tara Johnstone. That's okay. And it is? Tatiana McConnachie. Juanita Pomplett. National certified phlebotomy technician. Breasia Porter. Certified medical assistant. National certified phlebotomy technician. You guys all look so pretty. Okay. Yay! We planned that. Okay. Deasia Porter. National certified phlebotomy technician. Are you okay? Yeah. Taraya Robinson. Audrey Selby. Hi, Ms. Christine. It's your turn. Before I call the nurses up on stage, I do want to recognize one of our faculty members. She has been with the program for 37 years. Please stand, Ms. Zee. She is retiring. 37 years.
016Alright, are you guys ready? Future nurses, please come to the stage. Larissa Vinay Autry. Brooklyn Cherie Burns. Desiree Clark. Only missing 19 minutes this year out of 1,200 hours. And graduating with high honors. Amanda Donley. Michaela Marie Draper. Shante Duncan. Graduating with high honors. Pearl Eppie. Elizabeth Fenstermaker. Graduating with high honors. Graduating with honors. Brandy Goodwin. Margaret Jane Green. Courtney Hill. Alexis Keller. Graduating with the highest honors in our class. Kelly Porchnak. Rose Marie Kroger. Cassandra McConnell. Josie McElroy. Linda Lynn Manser. Sophia Rose Montgomery. Allison Morgan. Madison Paige Moyer. Pamela Noelle Lynn Parsons. Mackenzie Rae Pullen. Dejanae Capri Singleton. Graduating with high honors. Stephanie Smith. Nia Chanel Spalding. Sherry Vance. Desiree Lynn Walker. Chanel Marie Walker. Graduating with honors. Sasia Alexis White. This is kind of a sad but also a very happy time. This
017is kind of a sad but also a very happy time. We lost a faculty member two years ago next month. And she was a wonderful, loving teacher that everyone absolutely adored. We started the annual Libby Kaczynski Kindness Award. And the teachers and the students get to vote on one person in the classroom that exemplifies kindness. And this year, I am honored to present this award to Amanda Donley. Now if everyone in the audience, any nurses in the audience, if you look in the last page of your program, there is the nurses pledge. And we would like everyone in the audience except for the nurses to remain seated. All nurses, please stand and do the pledge along with our graduates. Please be quiet while they do the pledge. Thank you. I pledge myself to the welfare
018of my patients and the citizens. I share my responsibility for the health and welfare of my future nursing students. I pledge myself to nurse those others who take care of me and who love me. The mayor, she's crying. The kids, she's crying. This goes off, okay? Do you want to tell them to be seated when they're done? Future nurses, please have a seat. Congratulations to all of you. As I stated earlier in the program this evening, tonight is about tenacity and being undefeated. So to that end, I would like to have Michelle Donahue, coordinator and instructor of a medical assistant program, and her student, Taraya Robinson, come forward, please. As you know, life hands us some tough situations. And at times it's life changing. Last October, while a student in our medical assistant program, Taraya
019attended a Halloween party on a Saturday night. Then the unthinkable happened. A disagreement occurred and another person made a choice to go and get a weapon and shot Taraya in the face. Ms. Donahue was notified and then she notified me and as you can imagine, this young lady and many medical staff fought for her life. Getting her stable to be able to operate and many procedures performed while her family, friends, classmates, faculty waited, prayed, and stayed hopeful. Ms. Robinson won. She was undefeated and standing here just like she told everyone that she would. Thank you, Ms. Donahue, for supporting her immensely and Taraya would like to thank her family and her best friend, her grandfather. Thank you. Tenacity and undefeated. I would like to congratulate all of the students and this is again where I
020say to the Mayor of Canton, Ohio, here are your new professionals that will go out into our community and make a difference. Family and friends, please stay seated until all students have exited the auditorium.