What’s Right With Our Schools: Tyner Commitment to Graduation Day

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) – Visualization can be a useful tool when you’re trying to reach a goal. Freshmen at Tyner Academy got to look three years into their futures at a recent commitment to graduation ceremony. It included caps and gowns and inspirational speeches. All that adds up to a far-reaching example of what’s right with our schools.

Kohl Ward is the Tyner Academy Freshman class vice president.

He explains,” We are here today to deliver Tyner Academy’s first annual commitment to graduation ceremony.”

Dr. Tiffany Earvin in the principal at Tyner.

She adds, “It’s a celebration for our seniors, but more so for our freshmen.  Freshman year can be very difficult, very daunting. We want to make sure they knew, or they know, that we believe in them.  They are highly capable, and they have got to stay for the long haul and get through senior year.”

Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp told the students, “There’s a lot of schools in this community, but Tyner’s different.  We all believe in you.”

Dr. Earvin says, “So, they have their own caps and gowns because we need for them to see what is to come in about three and a half more years.”

Freshman Class President Halceyunna Upshaw explains, “While we are aware this is not our actual graduation, we would like to use this opportunity, as the class of 2027, to encourage and pledge to develop, to grow, to consider the future, to care for the future, and to leave a lasting legacy.”

Dr. Earvin lays it out like this, ” We put them in a situation, in a setting so that they know this is highly possible for you.  Stay the course, deal with the challenges, and they will become their very best before they leave us.”

Laurn Hodges is Tyner Academy parent.

She says, “I just think this is really important because it plants a seed that graduation is important, that moving and advancing is important. A lot of kids may not be able to see what graduation is supposed to look like.  So, having a mock ceremony like this commitment to graduate, it just plants the seed that they need to excel, that they want to excel.  I guess it even just gives them a little bit more of a push to be able to go forward so they can go to college and be great.

Freshman Braylon Blackmon adds, “The way it makes me focus is like, since I did it today, I’ve like, I want to be able to do it in three years when I’m the senior, I can do it.  Like it just pushed me so I can be in this spot and I won’t have to wait any longer to do it.”

Freshman Christian Caudle agrees, “This will help me focus on achieving what I need to do so I can be in the same spot when it really matters and keep my grades in check so I can be in the same spot again.”

Dr. Earvin concludes, “So, now that Tyner Academy has brought Freshman Academy that they had years and years ago, our Freshman Academy administrator, Rachel Turner and the team came together to make sure our freshman students know how important success is and how important graduation is.  So, they’re making this commitment to graduation is just that. It is a commitment that we will finish and we will follow through and we will leave here and go to technical school, college.  But there is a future after Tyner Academy.”