Met School’s Grads See Better Tomorrows

By Philip Marcelo

“I realized that this was a different place. I could be myself,” says Tania Hurtado, who will head to Roger Williams University.

PROVIDENCE — Metropolitan Regional Career and Technical Center cofounder Elliot Washor called at the start of the school’s graduation ceremony last night.

Standing center stage at the Providence Performing Arts Center, Dennis Littky, the other cofounder, put the cell phone against the microphone so Washor could give the class his congratulations.

Washor was in San Diego, Calif., set to preside over the graduation of the first senior class of a high school run by the Big Picture Company, the same nonprofit that runs the Met.

It was a telling moment for the public school, which was founded 12 years ago in Providence and today boasts a network of 68 schools in the United States, Netherlands, Australia and Libya — a total of nearly 7,000 students worldwide, according to Littky.

Dressed in blue caps and gowns, 159 seniors from the Met’s seven schools in Rhode Island graduated in a noisy, raucous ceremony last night. The ceremony featured the school’s first graduating class from its Newport campus, which opened in 2006.

Two seniors addressed the class, although the school does not name an individual valedictorian or salutatorian.

Tania Hurtado came to the Met after a “horrible” middle school experience which she says made her want to leave high school. The Bolivian native said she had been a “shy, quiet and reluctant” student, but learned to overcome her fear of public speaking at the Met.

“I realized that this was a different place. I could be myself,” said Hurtado, who will enroll with a full scholarship at Roger Williams University, where she plans to pursue law.

Lisa Ok said that when her father left, she was forced to work in order to help the family cover the rent. She nearly didn’t finish her education.

Now at the age of 16, Ok was graduating after three years at the Met. She earned the Gates Millennium Scholarship, which covers up to eight years of college tuition. She plans to study education at Connecticut College.

Ok challenged her classmates to find and pursue what motivated them. “Love,” she said, “is what drives me.”

Nancy Diaz Bair, the school’s codirector, said that the senior class raised nearly $10,000 for area agencies including the Boys & Girls Club. They will go on to 63 different four-year colleges, 5 two-year colleges and 12 vocational and technical programs.

“I’m always amazed at the passion of the students,” said Stanley Goldstein, chairman of the school’s board of directors. “You can see their commitment to dig into what they’re working on. Their work ethic is great.”

Graduates of Metropolitan Regional Career & Technical Center chant and cheer as they begin their procession last night. The Providence Journal / Kris Craig pmarcelo@projo.com / (401) 277- 7493

Originally published by Philip Marcelo, Journal Staff Writer.

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