SUCCESSES ON RISE AT ALTERNATIVE SCHOOLS

Sheldon Tyler, left, director of the Alternative School in Cape Girardeau, congratulated graduates Sherri Loughary, center, and Jill Obergoenner-Prince at a ceremony Friday.

The smell of pizza rather than the sound of "Pomp and Circumstance" was in the air, but the families of the graduates didn't seem to mind.

The only thing that mattered was that Sherri Loughary, 17, and Jill Obergoenner-Prince, 18, were graduating from high school.

"We are just thrilled, couldn't be happier," said Terrie McCarter, Prince's mother. "Just get the diploma."

Students and faculty of the Cape Girardeau Alternative Education Center provided the graduates with a short graduation ceremony followed by a party complete with food and drinks Friday morning. No one seemed to miss the formal cap and gown ceremony, and hugs and congratulations were passed around after a short speech by program director Sheldon Tyler.

"Just remember: Our motto is `There is salvation,'" Tyler told the students before handing them program completion certificates.

Loughary and Prince were both recent dropouts of Cape Girardeau Central High School due to pregnancy. Loughary needed three and one-half credits and Prince needed one-half credit and one elective to graduate when they came to the alternative program in October. Both students have jobs and attend school for three-and-one-half hours during the afternoon session.

"The school day is a lot shorter, which is really important because I have to work," said Prince. "I really like it here, because everything's more personalized."

The two students are the first graduates from the afternoon program and will receive Central High School diplomas. Five students have graduated from the program since it began Nov. 13, 1995.

"This was actually our biggest graduating class," Tyler said. "We've technically graduated five in a year-and-a-half who probably would not have managed to get a diploma otherwise."

Tyler said he has seen students make a lot of progress in the program, which is attended by students from Cape Girardeau, Jackson, Nell Holcomb, Zalma and Meadow Heights. Most of the students enter the program because they have been expelled or suspended from their home school, or because they have dropped out.

"I have not had a student that I know of who has come here that has had a choice," Tyler said. "Many of them come because they need something they're not getting in the regular classroom."

English teacher Joyce Barylski said many students enrolled in the alternative program need the personal atmosphere that smaller classes provide. The smaller classes also give teachers a chance to develop relationships that help them learn what each student needs to succeed.

"The smaller classes allow us the opportunity to be more patient and more personal," Barylski said. "That's as important to us as it is to them."

Loughary and Prince said now that they have graduated, they have their eyes on a new set of goals. Loughary said she will continue to attend the program because she wants to retake the ACT and attend Southeast Missouri State University. Prince said she hopes to be accepted at a beauty school in the future.