On a warm summer day at the end of June — after traditional high school graduation ceremonies had come and gone — the Elm Ballroom at the University of Maryland, Baltimore’s (UMB) Campus Center was packed with students in caps and gowns.
(left to right) Nicole Palmore, Keyia Brown, Dawn Rhodes, Kionda Early, Kadidia Kabore, and Denise Meyer
But despite the customary regalia, or the familiar sound of “Pomp and Circumstance,” the graduates weren’t average high school students. The group cloaked in green or blue, caps decorated with phrases like “It’s never too late,” were a cohort of exceptional adult students — all at least 21 years of age — who balanced a rigorous academic curriculum while continuing to work, care for their families, and navigate the demands of everyday life.
Kionda Early, an environmental service technician in UMB’s Office of Administration and Finance, was one of those students.
“Today was exciting,” Early said. “I’m glad we got it done.”
Early is one of five in an original cohort at UMB enrolled in the Goodwill Excel Center High School Diploma Program. The Center is a tuition-free public high school for adults 21 years of age and older, which offers flexible class schedules, and an accelerated competency-based high school curriculum.
At UMB, employees exclusively in the Office of Administration and Finance receive time off from regularly scheduled work to attend classes at the Excel Center near the UMB campus.
In attendance at the graduation ceremony last month were Early’s children and friends, plus her mom who was watching on the live feed.
And those people who helped her celebrate her big day? They’re the whole reason she went back to school.
“This was actually — this is what I did it for. I did it for my kids,” Early said.
The ceremony focused on students who’d faced complex life obstacles that made completing high school challenging. Their time at the Excel Center was often a second, third, or fourth chance at getting their high school diploma.
“The ceremony today, it's not only a recognition of your educational accomplishments, but it is importantly the recognition of the power of perseverance and an exceptional example of what can be overcome when individuals refuse to give up on themselves,” Joshua Savadore a board member for Goodwill Industries of the Chesapeake, Inc., said.
“Graduates, what you've accomplished is extraordinary. You balance life demands, you've pushed through obstacles and arrived here every day to serve, to build, and to lead,” he added.
UMB’s partnership with the Excel Center began three years ago before the center even opened, when Nicole Palmore, MSW, executive director for Employee and Organizational Success for Administration and Finance, connected with Sherry DeFrancisci, the center’s director.
UMB recognized the need to help some employees get their diplomas in order to help them have more opportunities at the university and beyond, Palmore said.
A total of five UMB employees — Keyia Brown, Kadidia Kabore, Tina Diggs, Early, and Antonio Pennix — have finished and received their degrees so far, Palmore said. UMB allowed them to be able to work half of their hours, while still receiving full pay, in order to complete the program.
“The real accolades go to our employees,” she said. “These are amazing people who have faced challenges, like many of the graduates here today. They are some of the smartest, bravest, and hardworking people I've met in my career. And I just hope they get to continue to flourish here at UMB.”
For those interested in participating in the program, please visit: https://www.umaryland.edu/af/office-of-employee-and-organizational-success/programs-and-services/
