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Grads with Grit

A series about students who have had to overcome unusual challenges and hardships to graduate this spring.

‘She does what she needs to do’

Wyoming Erin Albanese

After living independently for years and facing the death of her brother, Wyoming High School senior Adriana Ortiz-Torres looks toward her future in college and beyond...

The people on the journey

East Grand Rapids Phil de Haan

This East Grand Rapids senior says she can finally be herself...

Bolstered by community, she navigates loss & looks to the future

Kelloggsville Phil de Haan

Her mom, her faith and her school have helped this Kelloggsville High senior get through some of the toughest days of her life...

Ukrainian exchange student forges ahead amid change, uncertainty

Northview Morgan Jarema

It’s a lot to think about for any high-school senior: a new country, new culture and friends. And back home: war...

On his own since 12, refugee student sets his sights on college and career

Kent ISD Morgan Jarema

‘Education is the universal key to unlocking any door,’ says Myanmar native an...

Post high school, she’s pursuing big dreams in the Big Apple

Grand Rapids Charles Honey

A year after graduating from high school during the pandemic lockdown, Mariah Barrera is wrapping up her first year at Columbia University in New York City...

Determination is key to getting it done

Grads with Grit Janice Holst

Sparta’s adult education program thrived during the pandemic. It offered new beginnings to a diverse group of students, including refugees, young parents, older adults, recent drop-outs and students from other districts...

A graduation victory for this band of brothers

Lowell Beth Heinen Bell

A quartet of fifth-year seniors at Unity High School weren’t sure they would be able to graduate, until they met each other and realized that they could do it together...

Determined leader sprints past K-12 finish line, pushed by her little ‘star’

Godfrey-Lee Beth Heinen Bell

Growing up, DaJa West always knew she was going to graduate from high school. But when she became pregnant, “some people doubted me,” she said. They shouldn’t have...

From regular trouble to focused & mature

Comstock Park Karen Gentry

This potential future corrections officer knows what it takes to turn things around...

For once-homeless mother and daughter graduates, ‘dreams do come true’

Grads with Grit Erin Albanese

Ayjia Jones and her mother, Monique Williams, are both graduates of the Class of 2021. Their accomplishment comes after two years living in motels, searching for housing and pathways to stability...

‘Her deafness does not define her’

Kent City Janice Holst

This grad hopes to learn scuba diving and to fly an airplane, but highest on her agenda is to aid in the fight for her right to join the armed forces...

Writing through the grief

Caledonia Alexis Stark

Approaching the end of her senior year, she is learning to grieve with grace and share her emotions through writing, after the death of her older sister in 2016...

‘God gives me hope’: a refugee student’s hard journey to graduation

Kelloggsville Phil de Haan

On a journey from the Congo to Grand Rapids, faith, and the people placed in his path, have helped a Kelloggsville senior deal with some tough circumstances...

Journey of survival, hard work, inspires him to inspire others

Grads with Grit Erin Albanese

Six years ago hewas in an Indonesian detention center. Today he is a recipient of Western Michigan University’s most prestigious merit-based scholarship...