Standout graduates from
27 classes are honored with certificates in school's Green Dolphin
Lounge
There were no caps and gowns. No pomp and
circumstance. And no diplomas.
But to the students who gathered last night at the
recognition ceremony of the College of Staten Island's Adult
Learning Center, it was a graduation nonetheless -- the end of
another year of improving their education.
Standout graduates from the 27 classes were honored
with certificates in the college's Green Dolphin Lounge, but it was
a night to celebrate all 750 students who have passed through the
center's doors since September.
The center offers free instruction in basic
education, English as a Second Language and preparation for the
General Equivalency Diploma to more than 700 students each year.
"The students run the gamut," said Staci Weile, the
center's director.
Many are immigrants looking for a better life in
America than they had in their native lands. Others are returning to
school after long absences. And some just want to be able to help
their children with their homework.
There are students like Tuan Fallil, who fled Sri
Lanka in 1996 after a terrorist attack destroyed the bank where he
worked as an examiner.
"It was like our Twin Towers," Fallil said,
explaining that a truck carrying explosives slammed into the bank,
killing 360.
A month later, Fallil arrived in Meiers Corners and
soon developed serious medical problems that kept him bedridden for
three years. But he worked with his doctors to keep his illness
under control.
Although he sometimes had trouble standing up,
Fallil began attending classes to earn his GED.
"Everyone encouraged me in class," said Fallil, 60,
who will begin an undergraduate program in the fall to become a
physician's assistant.
Sitting a few rows in front of Fallil was Joseph
Galuppi, who was named the outstanding student in Erica Flynn's
class for developmentally disabled adults.
Described as a one-of-a-kind student, Galuppi came
to class with pizza for everyone, saved parking spaces for his
teacher in the crammed CSI lots and dressed as Santa during the
holidays.
"It's fun," said the 33-year-old Great Kills
resident. "The teachers are nice and the people are nice."
Also singled out last night was Juan Garcia, who
holds a job as a cook, takes his 6-year-old son for therapy
appointments at Staten Island University Hospital twice a week and
attends classes in the evenings.
The Westerleigh resident arrives at CSI tired, but
always wearing a smile.
Garcia is concentrating on earning his GED, learning
how to navigate a computer and helping his son, also named Juan,
with his reading and writing.
"I want better opportunities for my son and I want
to be able to help him with his homework and with school," the elder
Garcia said as young Juan munched on cookies at his side.
Fallil, Galuppi and Garcia are only three students
among hundreds who bring quiet confidence and discipline into the
classrooms of the Adult Learning Center.
"It really is like a family," said Ms. Weile, the
director. "And I am the proud momma."
