High School Graduation An Emotional Occasion

High school graduation is an emotional occasion, especially if it comes decades later than expected.

Patricia Gimpel’s diploma will read Pratt High School; Mary Robinson’s will be from Skyline. They’re among the Pratt Learning Center’s largest-ever class of 16 students who will cross the stage Friday night at the Pratt Community College, receive their diplomas, move the tassels on their mortarboards, and meet, for perhaps the first time, the superintendents from the schools granting the diplomas.

“We did it!” the two congratulated each other earlier this week when they came to the center, located on the PCC campus, to check out their caps and gowns.

They have worked since the Learning Center opened in 1999 to complete the last seven high school credits, working online with the help of teaching assistants.

Robinson fell behind in reading in the third grade and by high school mostly just sat in class, unable to do much of the work. School officials told her mother it would be better if Mary quit school. She did, but vowed to finish if she ever got a chance.

About 14 years ago she bought a “Hooked on Phonics” book and taught herself to read. She worked with two volunteer tutors from a local literacy program, and when someone at Pratt Regional Medical Center, where she has been employed for 26 years in the housekeeping department, told her about the Learning Center, she decided to give it a try.

Going back to school was scary, she admits, and the computers were intimidating. Her first class was math and it took two years to complete as she balanced 56 hours of work at the hospital with a few hours a week at the center. She had never written a report or researched on a computer. A dictionary was her steady companion and she compiled her own list of words and meanings in a notebook.

“I’ve never seen anyone so dedicated,” Debbie McGreevy, Learning Center director, said.

Robinson thinks she’ll write to her old high school and let them know she’s done what they said she couldn’t.

Will having a diploma matter to a woman who expects to retire in a couple of years? “It’s made a lot of difference already,” Robinson said. “It’s given me a lot of confidence. I’m going to keep learning.”

Gimpel quit school in her junior year because she was unhappy with her mother, who was moving. “I didn’t hurt anybody but myself,” she noted.
She has preached the value of education to her two children and decided “I’d better put my money where my mouth is.”

The death of a brother-in-law a few years ago convinced her she needed to earn a diploma so she would be better able to support herself if necessary.
“Going to school today?” her 16-year-old son will ask. When she comes home he wants to know, “what did you do today? Got homework? Need any help?”
“He’s proud of me,” she said, her voice choking with emotion.

Gimpel will share graduation day with her daughter Michelle, who is the first woman in four generations to finish high school and will receive her associate degree Friday from Pratt Community College.

Gimpel plans to continue as a student at PCC. She’s not currently working, but staying home to care for her mother who has had a heart attack. When Mom gets back on her feet, Gimpel will “explore” and expects to find more options than she had when she worked previously.

Earning her high school diploma is “one of the things I can scratch off on my to-do list. It’s a fulfillment for me. It means a lot for my immediate family — to me, it’s the world.”

The Learning Center has a current enrollment of about 175 students whose high school classes have already graduated. Enrollment can occur at any time and there is no time limit for completion. They range in age from 18 to mid-60s and have a few credits to finish or many in order to receive their diplomas.