Groton Adult Education To Graduate 45 Students

Groton Adult's Education program will graduate 45 students on June 22, and on Wednesday it honored a young woman recieving a $500 scholarship from Liberty Bank.

Nina Hernandez Calderon, 18, finished four years of high school last spring only to find out that due to transfers among schools, she was one-half credit short of recieving her diploma from Fitch High School.

So she fixed it by going to night school. She finished in Janurary and graduates next week. Since August, she's also gotten married and had a baby.

"I just kept thinking about how my son would see me if I gave up," she said. Her son, Jeremias, is six months old.

Calderon's husband, Efrain Hernandez, 18, also attended the adult education program and finished in Janurary. He was a student at Fitch High School but decided to go to work part time to support his child and take classes at night.

Calderon received a $500 scholarship from Liberty Bank and said she plans to take courses at Three Rivers Community College to learn medical billing. When her son is older, she said she wants to become an ultrasound technician.

Gaetano Patalano, one of the directors of adult education, said he is proud of the students. More than 300 have graduated since 2007.

"They're coming back after they didn't reach the goal of getting a high school diploma. They're coming back," he said. "And I respect that."

This year's graduates range in age from 17 to 29.

Scholarships Awarded

In addition to Calderon, two other students received scholarships from Liberty Bank. Their names are listed below:

• Marc Rios, of Groton, attended Grasso Technical School and transferred to Fitch High School his junior year. He faced medical issues, which led him to choose the adult education program. Rios will attend ITT Technical Institute for certification in automotive mechanics.

• Estefano Anguita, of Groton, attended Fitch High School and transferred to adult education two years ago. He will attend Three Rivers Community College for the general studies program.