A Family Graduation : 2 Sisters Dropped Out in ‘70s, 1 of Their Sons in 1990; All to Get Diplomas Today

In 1973, Juanada Vaughn was a 15-year-old freshman at Edison High School in Huntington Beach. She was a below-average student who admits that she spent more time “cutting class and clowning around” than studying.

Shortly before the start of summer vacation that year, she dropped out of school to get married. Now the mother of six children, Vaughn, 34, watched helplessly as her 17-year-old son, Shawn, followed in her footsteps and dropped out of Los Amigos High School in Fountain Valley last year. Shawn said he ran away from home and fell victim to drugs.

But after a few months away, they were reunited--first at home, and then in the classroom.

Today, Juanada and her son will graduate from high school together after earning the remainder of their academic credits through the continuing education program at Rancho Santiago College. They will be joined in the commencement ceremonies by Juanada’s 35-year-old sister, Jill McIntyre, who dropped out of Edison High School in 1974 after completing the 10th grade.

“We’ve all had frustrations with it, but we’ve helped each other through,” McIntyre said. “We sort of competed with each other so one of us couldn’t drop out and have the other two go on. We became like the Three Musketeers.”

Instructor Judy Othmer, who has taught continuing education classes at Rancho Santiago College for 22 years, said the three were at the top of their class, showing up every school day since January for intensive, self-paced study.

The three Santa Ana residents will be among 144 students receiving diplomas this week after completing their studies at either the college’s Orange campus or at its Centennial Education Center.

“I’ve never had three members of the same family come in together like they did,” Othmer said. “They studied hard and even helped other students. They have really been a great group.”

Dozens of family members are expected to attend today’s graduation ceremony, including 74-year-old Jay Moore, father of the two women and Shawn’s grandfather. The retired machinist, who lives in Lake Elsinore, said the family was going through a divorce in the mid-1970s, which he says contributed to his daughters’ dropping out of school.

“I’m real proud,” Moore said. “Sure, I would have liked to have attended their graduations 20 years ago, but I’m real pleased that they took the initiative and finished their educations.”

Shawn Vaughn says that working to complete his high school studies has helped him get his life back on track. He has enlisted in the Navy and plans to enroll in college, where he wants to study architecture when his hitch is up.

“My mom showed me that I could go back to school and that I needed to take responsibility for myself and make some adult choices,” said Shawn, who will soon leave for Orlando, Fla., where he’ll be stationed.

“I always knew he was smart enough to do it,” his mother said. “He just needed the motivation to straighten himself out and he did.”

Although she had confidence in her son’s abilities, Juanada had doubts about her own ability to tackle academic subjects that she had abandoned nearly 20 years ago. Her lack of formal education had always haunted her, especially when she tried to help her children with their homework.

“I didn’t think I could do it,” she said. “I always thought I was stupid and not smart enough to go to school. But I’ve learned that I’m not that stupid and it’s changed me, changed a lot in my life.”

She plans to enroll in college in the fall, with her goal to become a preschool teacher.

“I’m just happier now. I even quit smoking,” she said. “Now, keep looking for one more goal after another. I really had no idea I could accomplish so much.”