Special graduation for 400 Phila. students

PHILADELPHIA - February 24, 2011 The proud sons and daughters and their parents attended a commencement ceremony that was the first of its kind in the city. They are graduates from more than a dozen schools across Philadelphia; 400 young people who made it through sheer determination. Allen Bowser is one of them. He was thinking about skipping the diploma to take his singing career on the road. He thanks his family for steering him in the right direction. "I just realized everything they said to me was real," said Allen. "Everything they said to me was true, and I just finally took a hold of it and I graduated. I'm happy." For others, their story was more bittersweet. "He will always be my baby, and I miss him so much," said Catherine Carroll. Catherine Carroll accepted her nephew, Tyree Jones' diploma on his behalf. He passed away due to kidney failure, just one month shy of graduation day. "He made it. He made it," said Carroll. Yes, he did, he made it." The mid-year commencement ceremony was a salute to the hard work of the students; young people who could've been on a completely different path if it wasn't for a special accelerated program to help them graduate. "This is a story of hope, young people who had dropped out of school, who needed one or two credits to graduate, and we were able to get them together and celebrate their success," said Wilfredo Ortiz of the Philadelphia School District. For the graduates, the journey to a diploma was tough, but they were reminded the journey doesn't end at graduation. And Lorenzo Thomas is one student who will take it a step forward when he goes to visit his new school, Central Pennsylvania College, on Friday. He had a message for other young people like himself, "Just try to be the best you can be to get where you want to be," said Lorenzo. "I hope they won't have to go through the things that some of us had to go through to get inspired."