Conquering Circumstance : Pomp Has Special Meaning for Dubnoff Center Graduates

When India Baker came to the Dubnoff Center for Child Development and Educational Therapy two years ago, she couldn’t even read, she said.

On Wednesday, she stepped up with seven fellow students to receive confirmation of her persistent, focused efforts to complete an educational program.

“I went through a lot growing up,” said Baker, 19. “I was raising myself on my own.”

Graduation is a special time for all students, but perhaps especially so for Dubnoff students--who faced big hurdles to get this far.

Dubnoff is a vocational educational center that provides alternative schooling for students ages 5 to 22 who have had trouble in traditional academic settings. Some come from troubled homes, some have learning disabilities, and some are wards of the court system.

But their graduation celebration was not unlike other schools’. The air was rich with the scent of eucalyptus trees and music from a live band. The grads, family, friends and staff feasted on sandwiches and juice and two kinds of cake. They shared group hugs and pictures, and autographed each other’s yearbooks.

But they were aware of the magnitude of their accomplishment.

Maya Cameron, 19, was left speechless by her own achievement when her turn came to accept her diploma.

“All I could say was, ‘Thank you, Dubnoff,’ ” she said, laughing.

“When I first came here, I didn’t care about anything,” said Cameron, who aspires to an acting career. But the staff encouraged her to work toward this day until it became her goal to get her schoolwork done no matter what, she said.

“It’s going to be hard to move on,” she said.

For some of these young people, the only family they care to remember is within the walls of the two-story office building that serves as the campus, their only happiness found on the playground or basketball court.

“They have been placed here through the departments of mental health and family services, or the school districts, because they are in need of the most intensive services available to turn their lives around,” said Sandra Sternig-Babcock, associate executive director of the center.

“It’s not just a school, it’s a treatment environment,” she said.

The graduates are mindful of the experience.

One lesson Henry Moran, 18, learned is “everything goes good with confidence.” He said he looks forward to using his love of math and science to become a teacher.

Mike, 18, a ward of the state, worked his way toward graduation one proficiency test at a time, beginning two years ago when he “shaped up” and realized he was capable of more than he was accomplishing, he said.

“When I first got here, I was lost. I used to get in a lot of trouble,” he said. “The school helped me learn to solve my problems, not just run away from them.”

Mike now shares a common challenge among graduates. He needs a job because the place he had been working recently went out of business.

India Baker said she wanted to prove to people that she could achieve, despite the fact that she had been told elsewhere she couldn’t “make it.”

“I made up my mind that I wanted to learn,” she said.