Persistence pays off for graduates

WASILLA — Peter Burchell has been glowing with pride for 21 years as students graduate from the school that now bears his name. And while he was suffering from a nasty case of influenza Monday (not swine flu, he insists), the founder of Burchell High School was determined not to miss the Class of 2009.

“I’m sicker than hell, but I can’t miss this. I wouldn’t miss this,” he said. “Here are these kids that, for most, have never seen (much) support. Many of them have had a lifetime of failure. Now, they have this. They graduate.”

Burchell High is an alternative school that targets students who, for whatever reason, have trouble with traditional high school, Burchell said. Some have behavioral issues and some are teen mothers. Burchell founded the school in 1988, and in more than two decades has graduated hundreds of young men and women who otherwise may not have earned a high school diploma.

Angie Bouslaugh was among the 69 BHS grads to receive a diploma Monday. She’s the first person in her family since her grandmother to mark the accomplishment.

“Now I’m really nervous,” she said prior to walking the stage. “It’s scary to get up there in front of people.”

After some difficult times with her mother, Beth Bouslaugh, and having a baby at age 18, Angie said the road to graduation was difficult, but she would encourage other teens to not give up on their education.

“Definitely keep trying,” she said. “Keep up the hard work and it’ll happen.”

The payoff is just as gratifying for Beth Bouslaugh, who enjoyed playing the part of the proud mother.

“Me and my daughter butted heads there for years and we have struggled,” she said. “So, I feel like this is my graduation too. This is very gratifying. This is a very big accomplishment and a good example for her to set for her younger sister. … I am very proud.”

Shana Hernandez was another proud parent watching her youngest, Sharon Hernandez, graduate. Beaming with excitement minutes before the students began their procession into the Curtis D. Menard Memorial Sports Center, she realized she had forgotten something important — tissues.

“This is, like, the best thing ever,” Hernandez said. “I’m excited and I know I’m going to cry. I’m excited, but sad at the same time.”

For Shawn Phillips, high school passed quickly, but he’s already thinking about his future.

“I’m thinking college, definitely,” he said. “Or, IBEW (International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers). Gotta make some money. Man, it went so quick. It took forever (to earn a diploma), but it’s a huge relief to get it. It’s worth it in the end.”

When all the pomp and circumstance had cleared, Burchell graduated 69 students (81 overall counting those who earned diplomas during the school year) to join the hundreds who have left BHS with a diploma over the past two decades.

It’s a far cry from that first graduation in 1988, Burchell recalled. That first class had two graduates and the ceremony was held in one half of a portable classroom. Someone brought a dozen cupcakes, and one was leftover, he said, and that was “because someone — I’m not naming names — ate two.”

Contact Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.