Polk County News
12A Polk County Itemizer-Observer • June 21, 2017
Morrison helps grad ‘find myself again’
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
DALLAS — The crowd at Morrison Cam-
pus Alternative School’s graduation ceremo-
ny June 14 cheers loudly for Nina Encinas as
she approaches the podium.
Encinas, 17, is one of four speakers from
the 30 students in Morrison’s Class of 2017.
Not too long ago, Encinas wasn’t certain
she would graduate on time.
She said the school gave her that chance.
“Morrison helped me find myself again,”
she said during her address.
It is a common theme in the remarks her
fellow graduates make about the school,
which has a phoenix for its mascot.
When Encinas enrolled in Morrison her
junior year, she has been out of school for a
while and had just one credit toward her
diploma.
“I wanted to get back in school because I
knew I had to finish it up,” Encinas said.
“My sisters and brothers went here and they
said it was a good school.”
She gave high school another shot.
“I came here and tried it out,” she said.
Encinas did more than try, she crammed
four years of high school study into two
years. The workload was intense and her
graduation was in doubt until just recently.
When asked how she did it, Encinas gives
a simple answer, but the hint of exhaustion
JOLENE GUZMAN/ Itemizer-Observer
Morrison Campus Alternative School senior Nina Encinas earned almost all the credits
she needed for her diploma in two years to graduate on time.
in her voice illustrates that simple doesn’t
mean easy.
“Hard work,” she said, sighing heavily. “I
had to take independent work (classes) and
that was a lot of work, every single one of
those. I just focused on it. Especially these
past two months.”
Independent work classes condense
study down to one month. Those were
added to her core classes to ensure she had
the necessary credits to walk on June 14.
During the final push at the end of the
year, Encinas said she her quest for her
diploma was coming down to the wire.
“I thought I was going to have to come
back here,” she said. “I wouldn’t have mind-
ed it, but it’s good to finish.”
That said, Encinas said the morning before
receiving her diploma that she wasn’t sure
she wanted her high school experience to be
over yet. After 13 years of going to school,
Encinas thinks it’s going to be strange having
to depart from that familiar routine.
Leaving the school that helped her gradu-
ate and restored her confidence may be
even more difficult, she said.
“Everybody just likes each other. That
good to be around,” she said. “The teachers,
they are not only your teachers. They are
like your friends. Good friends, too. You can
express yourself here. You can be yourself.
I’m going to miss it a lot.”
Encinas wants to take a break from aca-
demics for a year to work.
“I didn’t want to go into college empty-
handed,” she said.
She’s still making her mind up about col-
lege, or she may take a different route and
enlist in the U.S. Army.
“If I’m going to go to college I kind of
want to go to college for veterinarian,” she
said.
Encinas said there are a few things she
wanted to remember to savor at her gradua-
tion ceremony.
“The memories about the good times,”
she said, “and the successes for everybody.”
MORRISON CLASS OF 2017
Itemizer-Observer staff report
DALLAS — Thirty stu-
dents graduated from Morri-
son Campus Alternative
School in Dallas on June 14.
The ceremony took place
in Dallas High School’s gym.
Here is Morrison’s gradu-
ating class: Malorie T. Al-
ford, Katarina M. Annear,
James A. Arnold, Colton
Dean Bonnett, Tristan Tay-
lor Bruno, Gage M. Burr,
Natasha Faye Chaussee,
Rawlyn Earl Chenoweth,
Shayla Marie Day, Soren D.
Domaschofsky, Nina Mary
Encinas, Joseph Matthew
Gallagher, Alicia Rose Ann
Hofenbredl, Morgan Carissa
Holbrook, Dakota Wayne
Houston, Alexander Lee
Hurtig, Elizabeth May Jones,
Malissa Kanczula, Matthew
Tyler Mann, Isaiah Porfirio
Medellin, Charlotte A. Roth,
Cierra Jolee Schulz, Austin
Leon Smith-Shular, Duncan
Andrew Elden Stebbins, Car-
rie M. Stepp, Ayisha Nicole
Washington, Kianna Renae
Washington, Myriah Leann
Washington, Justice Webb,
and Lance Aaron Young.
For more photos:
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JOLENE GUZMAN/ Itemizer-Observer
Elizabeth Jones addresses her class at Morrison Campus Alternative School’s gradua-
tion on June 14. The Class of 2017 is the 19th to graduate from the school.