Keeping a promise to dad

Nineteen years ago, Sonya and Tonya Sinn entered the world together. In one week, the sisters will walk side-by-side to receive their high school diplomas.

Many graduates have two parents providing them with guidance, financing and occasional discipline to ensure they receive a diploma.

But for two years, these Scott City fraternal twins have parented themselves while attending the Alternative Education Center in Cape Girardeau. They will graduate with seven other seniors on Friday.

When their mother divorced their stepfather in 2000 and relocated to Seattle, the girls joined their biological father in Buford, Ga., but tragically, he died months later of cancer.

"When we went to live in Georgia, our dad sort of held the family together, but when he died, it began to fall apart," Tonya said. "... Before he passed away, he made us promise him we'd graduate."

Tonya returned to Scott City first to stay temporarily with her former stepfather. Sonya followed six months later because the twins were miserable apart. Though they have relatives in Scott City, the twins decided to live on their own.

For a short time, they survived with their father's Social Security benefits, but the checks stopped last year when they turned 18, and they had to find another way to support themselves because at that point living with their mother was not an option.

Now the two work nights as aides at Fontainebleau Lodge, a nursing home in Cape Girardeau. Working part-time, together they earn about $1,000 a month.

It took a while to make good on the promise they made to their father. They learned about responsibility and self-reliance the hard way, they said. A year ago, they were dropped by the alternative school for missing five days in a row because of a trip they extended beyond Thanksgiving break. They returned shortly afterward and made up for the time missed.

"We've had other kids tell us they want to be out on their own like us," Tonya said. "And we just say, 'No, you don't.' They have no idea what it's really like."

"It ain't easy," Sonya chimed in. "We're paying the bills, working and going to school. ... We really miss our parents. We didn't go to school for a while after our dad died because no one told us we had to. But we've learned from that mistake and we're doing the right thing now."

Real-world livesSchool secretary Kathie Brennan said other students may not be as prepared for the real world as the Sinn twins.

"They are going to be more worldly and wiser than a lot of our kids," Brennan said. "These girls have walked the straight and narrow line. They work nights at a nursing home, a job many people say you couldn't pay them enough to take, and yet, these two take it all in stride."

As they shared a bottle of orange soda on Friday afternoon at the alternative school, the twins looked beyond high school.

Tonya plans to take a certified nursing aide class at a vo-tech school, then will major later in physical therapy. Sonya also plans to study nursing, but at Shawnee Community College in Ullin, Ill. She also has an interest in studying law.

"I'm excited about graduation," Sonya said. "I can't wait. I'm going to jump up and down. I'm probably going to cry some too."

With a ratio of one teacher for every nine students, the alternative school provides more one-on-one attention from teachers and counselors than traditional schools.

"You get a counselor here whether you want one or not," Sonya said. "But it helps to have someone to talk to."

Will Johnson teaches the girls creative writing and said he was impressed with their imaginations and willingness to share their experiences with other students.

"They have unique ideas because of their background," he said. "We write poetry and they express themselves freely and are honest about what they've been through."

Johnson said it might have been easier for the Sinns to just quit school when things got tough, but they were determined.

"I'm proud of them because they made it through, knowing education is the only way to excellence," he said.

And as in the past, they made it through together, the girls said.

"We fight, and then we laugh at each other," Sonya said. "I'd be lost without her, and she'd be lost without me. She's my best friend -- even though I hate her sometimes. We've done this together, and we're going to leave together."

mwells@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 160