'You are ready': FCPS SUCCESS program graduates 14 students

May 18—The opening notes of "Pomp and Circumstance" floated across a sunny field Tuesday morning, and right on cue, Dakota Keller began his march. Thirteen students followed him, some grinning or pumping their fists in the air as their families cheered.

About an hour later, Keller stood amid a crowd of chattering parents, teachers and classmates, tears shining in his eyes. He paused, thinking hard, when asked to name his favorite memory from his time in Frederick County Public Schools' SUCCESS program.

He gave up trying to pick just one.

"I like all the memories that I had here," he said simply.

FCPS' SUCCESS program serves students with disabilities between the ages of 18 and 21, offering them vocational training in addition to classroom lessons. Fourteen students graduated from the program Tuesday, kicking off a week and a half of commencement ceremonies across the district.

Teachers and officials praised the SUCCESS graduates for their resilience in the face of the pandemic, which presented obvious challenges to a program so focused on hands-on work experience.

Each group of seniors is hard to say goodbye to, said Tracy Jaramillo, who has administered the SUCCESS program the last three years. But that's especially true for the class of 2022, she said. Many of them started in the program at the same time she did.

"We went from the ground up," Jaramillo said, smiling after the ceremony as Tom Petty's "Wildflowers" mingled with the sounds of families packing up and heading to celebratory lunches. "We went through COVID together. We had to overcome hybrid learning and virtual learning. So this group of students is really special and difficult to let go of."

Many of the students plan to enter the workforce after graduation. In some cases, they'll continue in the same jobs they've held during their time in the program.

SUCCESS students have worked at libraries, parks, gyms and retail stores in the area, often with the help of job coaches, speakers said at Tuesday's ceremony.

"Many people across Frederick County have benefited from the important positions you've held," Jaramillo told the graduates during her speech.

"It's time to take everything you've learned and spread your wings," she said. "You are ready."

Senior Evalyn Lopez was the program's student speaker. She thanked her teachers and classmates.

"We have been together for so long," Lopez said. "I will miss you and think of you always."

After the ceremony, Abby Meredith bounded happily across the grass, hugging every classmate she could. Her dad, Scott, looked on and smiled.

"This is ... " Scott trailed off, choked up. "Emotional."

The family isn't sure what's next for Abby, Scott said. The ultimate goal is to find her a job, he said, and there's plenty of time for that.

For now, he said he was just proud of his daughter and grateful to the SUCCESS staff who had loved her.

"The way they light up when they hear her and see her — it's just fantastic," he said. "I can't say enough about this program."

The 14 SUCCESS students who graduated Tuesday were:

— Suscha Campbell

— Ayanna Cooke

— Gianna Coros

— Rebecca Duvall

— Amadou Fall

— Christopher Harris

— Kelton Johnson

— Dakota Keller

— Diana Laky

— Jaylen Lee

— Evalyn Lopez

— Abby Meredith

— Timothy Willard

— Christine Zhu

Follow Jillian Atelsek on Twitter: @jillian_atelsek