It’s hard to say who graduation matters to more, but it’s safe to say it meant a lot to the 50 or so who graduated Monday from Cobb Horizon High School.
This was the first graduating class for the Cobb County School District facility, which serves students who need help getting on track.
The alternative school opened in August as a combination of Oakwood Digital Academy and the Cobb Performance Learning Center. It uses online schoolwork and is assisted by one-on-one help or small class sizes.
“We are not a traditional high school. All our kids have a story. They have faced trials and adversity of some sort,” said Principal John Kelly.
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Barry Holland won the school’s first Defying the Odds award for graduates, according to a Cobb school district news release.
“I was a drop-out for two years,” Holland said. “I left my homeschool and did nothing for two years. It wasn’t until I saw my friends walk the stage at their graduation that I was like, ‘I made a mistake.’ I was determined to find a solution to the mistake I made.”
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Some students are going to Chattahoochee Technical College, others are going to Kennesaw State University, joining the military or starting careers.
Holland wants a career in welding.
“It is going to be terrifying. There is no doubt about it, but at Cobb Horizon you have a team of people who are going to do everything they can to get you to walk that stage,” he said.
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