Twindly Bridge Charter School celebrates 2023 graduation

WASILLA — Twindly Bridge Charter School honored the class of 2023 during a graduation ceremony held at Wasilla Bible Church Thursday, May 11.

While the graduating class was just a small handful of students, close to 200 family members and friends showed up to support them, according to Twindly Bridge Charter School Principal John Weetman. He said the main advantage of the smaller setting was having the opportunity to highlight each graduate in a more personalized way, sharing each one of their stories as they accepted their diploma.

"People want to hear about her kids and you can do it with a smaller group," he said.

The more intimate setting also gave the graduate's parents the opportunity to get on stage to share the experience with them.

"Each one of them has a path that they're choosing and the parents are helping them through it," Weetman said.

Weetman said this particular graduation ceremony was particularly sentimental for him since he's been able to witness many of the students learn and grow since they were in the third grade.

"I was tearing up," Weetman said.

Weetman said they had about 590 students enrolled in their homeschool program this year. He said the freedom of choice is one of the cornerstones of their school's educational atmosphere.

"That makes a big difference with the kids," Weetman said.

Twindly Bridge graduate Kennedy Torres said that she was happy to reach this point. She said that she appreciated having the opportunity to graduate a year early through a customized curriculum based on her interests.

"I really like Twindly Bridge because they let me pick what I wanted to do," Torres said.

Torres plans to embark on a two-year religious mission before returning to the Mat-Su Valley to open her own restaurant/bakery. Her mother Rosie Torres said the whole family is excited for her and they can't wait to see where she goes from here.

"I'm so proud of her for making this milestone," Rosie said. "No matter what she accomplishes in life she's going to achieve great things."

Twindly Bridge graduate Brayden Johnson plans to open coffee shops across Alaska. He said that he's been a homeschool student since the 7th grade and will miss the freedom he experienced learning at his own pace with forgiving and lenient staff members. He said the journey to graduation has been nothing but "smooth sailing" thanks to the flexibility of the program.

"It made it pretty easy to get there," Johnson said. "It's debatably the best school in Alaska."

Twindly Bridge seniors were the first class in the district to graduate this season.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman reporter Jacob Mann at jacob.mann@frontiersman.com