30 graduate thanks to Wichita Children’s Home program – and hard work

Darezanae Porter walked across the graduation stage Tuesday night for three people: herself, her 10-month-old son and her little brother, who died earlier this year.

After dropping out of high school and later juggling two jobs and online classes as a single mother, Porter earned her high school diploma through the Wichita Children’s Home BRIDGES program.

“Go walk across that stage for your brother, your son and you,” Porter said before the graduation ceremony. “So you can say that you made it.”

Porter, 18, was one of 30 students who graduated Tuesday through Phase 2 of the BRIDGES program, which combines online classes with hands-on learning in the classroom, sometimes from area high schools.

Many of the students are there because of homelessness, pregnancy or “aging out” of foster care. The program assists the residents with education, employment and money management and provides them with apartment- or dorm-style living, depending on age groups.

The graduation ceremony Tuesday at Eastside Community Church was as traditional as it could be, with speakers, choir performances and varying colors of caps and gowns, each representing a student’s original high school.

“Once they see that there’s light at the end of the tunnel and that they’re about to graduate, it’s like, ‘I can do big things. I can go to college now,’ things they thought was totally out of reach,” Phase 2 program coordinator Jessica DeCavelle said. “Getting a high school diploma is something nobody can ever take away from you.”

As a high school sophomore, Porter said, she dropped out after she discovered she was pregnant with a baby boy, Aamire. Family issues also added to her struggles, she said, and after Aamire was born, she tried to return to high school to graduate with the class of 2015.

“They basically just told me ‘You’re not going to graduate’ ” with your class, Porter remembered.

In December, Porter ended up at the Children’s Home new Bridges Apartments, the first building on a soon-to-be campus near 37th and Hillside. By late January, she was enrolled in the Phase 2 education program.

The online learning environment was better for Porter, she said. She took classes, worked two jobs and was one of about a dozen single mothers living at the apartment complex.

“I always wanted to do online school, because I know high school is not my environment,” she said. “So I was really excited that I got to work at my own pace.”

But her struggles didn’t stop there.

“My mindset had kind of changed when my brother died,” she said. “It was like, ‘I don’t even care. He’s not going to be at my graduation, and I don’t care no more.’

“Then I was like, ‘No, you can’t think like that.’ ”

With the help of the program’s teachers and a few fellow students, Porter managed to finish school on time with the class of 2015.

“Getting an education was really important, because I wanted to set an example for my son,” whom Porter described as “goofy” and a “happy baby.”

The 30 graduates will leave Wednesday morning on a senior trip to Branson, Mo., where they’ll go swimming, ride roller coasters and go to dinner and a show.

Next, Porter plans to take certified nursing assistant classes at Butler Community College. She said she wants to be a detective one day.

“If nobody else believes in you, you have to do it for yourself,” she said.

This story was originally published June 16, 2015 at 9:02 PM with the headline "30 graduate thanks to Wichita Children’s Home program – and hard work."