LOUISVILLE, Ky. — JCPS seniors graduated last weekend and now set out for college or career. Thousands of students got their diplomas, but one school with just 13 graduating students had a special graduation where they were cheered on by some of their littlest fans.
Vanessa Garcia started her high school career at Butler Traditional. But pretty soon her son Adrien changed her life. She transferred to Georgia Chaffee TAPP. TAPP stands for Teenage Parent Program.
Transferring to TAPP helped Garcia as a new mom, who was still finding the path she wanted to follow.
“I didn’t know what I was going to do in the future,” Garcia said. “I didn’t know what I wanted to pursue in life, I had nothing until he came into the world and I had to find a way to incorporate him into my path life.”
Last weekend, Garcia and her fellow senior classmates graduated from TAPP, and will start their rest of the lives. For Garcia, that means heading to Berea College with Adrien, where she will pursue a career in the arts.
She might be leaving TAPP, but the school and the people she met there, will always be a part of her story.
“Even though we all went through the same thing, it’s never the same story,” fellow 2021 graduate Angie Hernandez said.
Hernandez transferred to TAPP from Pleasure Ridge Park High School. Like Garcia, she found a new sense of purpose after having her now one-year old son Javoni. She found a comfort in having classmates who were also mothers.
“It was interesting to be around these girls and see that we’re all so motivated to keep going and keep pushing and were doing this for our kids,” Hernandez said.
Their kids got to go to school with the young women The school has an on-site day care and helps students find their own plans for the present and the future. Hernandez plans to go to JCTC to study cosmetology, then transfer to UofL to get her bachelor's degree.
“They’ve always been like a big help to me here to boost my confidence up a little bit and grow as a person because who you see now is not who I was three years ago,” Garcia said.
TAPP is a Big Picture School, meaning the girls get to choose parts of their curriculum based on their future goals, and get individualized attention from teachers and staff who can help them meet their goals.
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