Path To Graduation: Future Plans
Written and Produced By:Merissa Butler, Graduate, Class of October 2015; and Skyler Callahan-Miller, Grade 12, Class of 2016In Partnership With: High School Learning Center at Corning Community College; and Corning-Painted Post Area School Districthttps://wskgyouthvoice.tumblr.com/post/133007767650/alternative-high-schools-are-a-second-chance-for
Skyler Callahan-Miller had a problem with traditional high school.“I had a lot of problems with attendance. I’d either have work or just say, forget about it, and not even go to school. [I had] attendance issues due to getting a ride or catching the bus or having to work early in the morning," confessed Skyler. "And I also had a bunch of study halls that didn’t really help me at all. I’d get bored, so I’d just walk home."
Skyler was near the point of dropping out until his cousin recommended the High School Learning Center to him. He learns more effectively in the setting and atmosphere at the Learning Center.“I feel like [the High School Learning Center] is helping me be a better student and a better person. I feel like I can get more help here rather than traditional school where there are such big class sizes. There are smaller class sizes here and it helps me," Skyler explains. "There’s a flexible work schedule so I can still have a job and at the same time go to school.”Does Skyler think he could have earned a diploma from a traditional high school?
“Yeah, I think I would have eventually, after several years," says Skyler. "I’m a determined person and I’m going to get a diploma one way or another, but I feel like this is the best way for me to get one.”Now, Skyler goes to school and he will be graduating! After he graduates from the High School Learning Center, Skyler has plans for his future and for success.“I hope to go into the United States Marine Corp after I get my diploma from the Learning Center, and then I plan to make music in Nashville.”
This video was scripted, voiced, recorded and edited by student producers, Merissa Butler and Skyler Callahan-Miller. In partnership with the High School Learning Center, students explore their personal path to graduation while learning production skills from WSKG’s youth media curriculum.American Graduate is made possible by a grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.