The right fit

Coral Wilson

Lisa Gallinger used to hate high school.

“I hated going, I hated everything about it,” she said.

On June 12, she graduated from Coast High School. And it is just

the beginning of her education, she said.

“I never thought I would be proud to graduate, but I am,” she

said. “I know I worked at it and it is something you are supposed to

do.”

She was a high school drop out, she lived in a group home and she

was depressed. She had lived a rough life and didn’t fit in with

other students at other schools who she said were sheltered and often

judgmental.

Coast High School and Valley Vista High School offer alternative

education for those who face adversities. By offering students extra

support, a lighter curriculum and allowing them to set their own

pace, both schools allow opportunities for students to get back on

their feet.

Many of the graduates struggled with depression, pregnancies,

drugs, work and family pressure.

“Things happen that sometimes you have control over and sometimes

you don’t,” Gallinger said.

Efforts seemed to pay off as seniors from both schools, about 130

graduates in blue robes, celebrated together, proving to doubtful

friends and relatives that they really could do it.

“Chloe has the drive and determination,” Jean Morgan said of her

daughter, Chloe Fisher. “Once we got her in the right place where she

could connect with her peers and do it on her own terms, there was no

stopping her.”

Fisher, who suffered from severe depression, went from getting Ds

at Marina High School to getting As at Valley Vista High School in

six months, Morgan said.

Parent after parent told similar stories.

“Edison [High School] just didn’t work for her,” Ginny Hinkle said

of her daughter Erin Hinkle. “She didn’t do her work, and she kind of

got lost in the hugeness of it all.”

After tasting success and excelling at Coast High School, Ginny

Hinkle said her daughter now plans to go on and become an elementary

school teacher.

“To be successful is so good for a person’s morale,” she said.

Kerry Clitheroe, vice principal of Coast High School, addressed

the crowd that had gathered, seated on white chairs in the small,

grassy quad at Valley Vista High School. She recalled several years

back when many of the graduates arrived on campus for the first time.

Some were afraid, and some didn’t care, she said.

“All those who support you and love you, know how proud they are

of you today,” she said to the graduates.

Both teachers and administrators spoke with a pride and a

familiarity that resembled friendship more than authority.

“Whatever course the future takes, my sincere hope is that when

you look back on your high school years ... that experience prepares

you to deal with the challenges ahead,” said George Green, principal

of Valley Vista High School.

Green and Clitheroe called the students forward to accept their

degrees. But instead of racing through the list of names, they took

the time to tell a little about the students and where they were

headed next.

They would go on to become journalists, nurses, physical

therapists, professors, make-up artists, probation officers,

pharmacists and underwater welders.