The Richmond County Juvenile Court Thrive Enrichment Program held a GED graduation ceremony on Feb. 18, and community members showed up to support a small group of students who have tackled academic challenges in the face of adversity.
The Thrive Enrichment Program is for youth who are involved with the Juvenile Court through its various academic and treatment programs. It serves over 100 youth during out of school hours Monday-Saturday.
During the ceremony on Tuesday morning, 11 were recognized for receiving their GED diplomas – the largest graduating class since the Thrive program’s inception in 2019.
Celebrating the class of 2025
Diploma recipients present at the event were Zeon Burke, Jashaun Banks, Kiyun Ealy, Aiana Wilkes, Louis Jenkins, Tedis Jones, Justin Elmore and Diamond Johnson. Not present were Jamela London, Christian Clanton and Eric Valentine.
Students were also recognized for completing other programs. Eleven students finished Aggression Replacement Training (ART) and include Zaveyon Byrd, Quimane Cone, Donashia McClain, Donovan Ivey, Jaleah Perry, Jamie Thaxton, Cameron Howard, Keontrez Days, Aiana Wilkes, Kasir Postell and Tyrese Rayson.
Four students completed the Thinking for a Change program (T4C): Caden Mells, Perry Young, Zamari Carter and Cordelle Dent.
Richmond County Sheriff Eugene Brantley was one of several guests who spoke during the ceremony, addressing the students through tears to express his pride in their accomplishments.
“This day should be a new beginning for the rest of your lives,” he said. “You should be proud of the fact that when it was easy to quit or give up, you didn’t.”
Learn from it, live through it
Justin Elmore was celebrated during the event for earning his GED with the highest grade point average, making him valedictorian for the Thrive class of 2025.
“I ended up getting in some trouble a while back. After that, I was unmotivated and I realized I was going the wrong way,” said Elmore.
When he realized he was ready to turn his life around, he said he got a job and started gaining an education with the Thrive program.
He said that he would tell other youth with similar experiences to not let the past define them: “Don’t allow what you go through the carry that weight on your shoulders…whatever you go through, learn from it, live through it and be better the next day.”
“They don’t always have somebody in their corner”
Judge Chanette Lewis, Juvenile Court judge, said she was “just overjoyed” to see the class of 2025 reach their goals.
“I can’t even explain the emotions that I’m going through right now,” she said.
“I don’t think people understand how much children go through,” Lewis said. “They’ve just experienced everything, every knockdown that you probably could experience. These children have experienced not having the support systems that we all are accustomed to. They don’t always have somebody in their corner.”
Because of this, Lewis said that community support is vital in pushing students like these to greatness.
“That’s the only way that we can have positives like this, is if the community is behind us,” she said.
