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Seven of the best years of my adult life were as a substitute teacher for Penobscot Job Corps. I worked nearly every week in every training category, and especially important to me was the new student orientation program.
I had the privilege of welcoming the arrivals on campus and observing the wide range of emotions among them. Most were apprehensive, some resentful and yet others wide eyed with excitement for a new phase of their young lives.
And, as a teacher in various classes, I was able to walk beside them in their progress. Some didn’t make it through, as could be expected, but the many who did were thrilling examples of perseverance and maturing.
I got to know and understand their various backgrounds and I think they got to know mine. We shared openly our hopes and dreams. Graduation day was the most joyous day of the year and the tears of happiness flowed freely among both students and staff. Unforgettable!
The so-called “graduation rates” now being used to kill the Job Corps mission cruelly ignore the value of young lives changed forever and, in some cases, lives physically saved. The “politics” of this decision to end the program are so transparent it makes me sick. If ever a baby were thrown out with the bath water, this is a vile example of it.
Hal Wheeler
Bangor
