来自9所不同学校的23名学生自豪地获得了他们的毕业证 school diplomas after completing the Gateway to College Program at Montgomery County Community College. Their families, friends and supporters 在毕业典礼上，他们走过舞台，舞动着流苏，欢呼雀跃 held on MCCC’s Blue Bell Campus on May 22.

大学之门项目及其经验丰富的教职员工帮助学生 谁已经从高中退学，完成了他们的职业生涯所需的要求 high school diploma and earn college credits. Since MCCC launched the program in 2013 在蓝铃校区和波茨敦校区，274名学生获得了高中文凭 diplomas, transforming their pathways.

包括今年，中冶门户项目获得了全国“圆梦”奖 连续7年获得卓越项目奖，以表彰其在帮助学生方面的成功 reach their goals. Gateway is part of the Achieving the Dream 促进社区大学改革和学生成功的全国性网络.

 “在这个毕业班，我们有从2022年秋季开始的学生和学生 who only spent the last 15 weeks with us. We have several first-generation high school graduates here this morning. 我们的年轻人适应了学校的变化，健康 挑战，心碎，做多份工作，支付房租和账单，成为 父母、悲伤、焦虑、自我怀疑和失败. But these young people worked 很难重写他们教育的剧本，我不能更自豪. I hope 你们为自己感到骄傲，”大学之路项目经理米歇尔·库拉说.

In her welcome remarks during the program, Dr. Vicki Bastecki-Perez, MCCC President, 分享了经典故事“小引擎”的隐喻.”

“Graduates, you are like that little engine. Each of you faced your own tall mountains, 无论是个人挑战、学业障碍还是其他障碍。 Bastecki-Perez. “虽然你可能怀疑自己克服这些考验的能力， 你们坚持不懈，继续前进，一起度过了艰难的时刻 在Gateway团队的指导和支持下，您的学区，家庭和 friends.”

这段经历会给你信心去拥抱一个新的咒语——而不是 “我想我能行，”你现在可以对自己说，“我相信我能，我知道我能，而且。 I will,” she said.

毕业生包括以下来自参与学校实体的学生:

• Commonwealth Diploma – Vincent Weiss
• 北宾夕法尼亚- Keron Espinal, Josh O 'Meara, Isa Andia Ibn Muhammed
• Owen J. Roberts – Matthew Michener
• Pottsgrove – Nathaniel Grabowski-Arena, Kyle Rawson
• Springfield – Holly Kimmel, Mira Schreffler
• Spring-Ford – James Maack
• Souderton – Rylee Oliff, Anastasia Vargas
• Upper Merion - Kimberly Alvarez-Dolores, Lianisse Carter, Tymir Dickerson, Mike Lyons， Nathan McCollum, Arianna Price
• Wissahickon - Alyssa Bagosy, Graham Dupee, Ava Kraft, Ariel Lucas-Turner, Gianna Johnson

16名毕业生将在MCCC或其他学院继续他们的教育， and seven graduates will be entering the workforce. In addition to receiving their 高中毕业证书，每个毕业生获得9到30个学分.

八项特别奖颁发给了几位优秀的毕业生. The award for Most Improved was presented to Holly Kimmel. The award for Most Determined was presented Kimberly Alvarez Dolores. “改变心意奖”颁给了吉安娜·约翰逊. 勇敢奖授予米拉·施勒弗勒. The Overall Foundation Student Award was earned by Isa Andia Ibn-Muhammad. The Perseverance Award was presented to Nathan McCollum and Lianisse Carter. The PECO Rising Stars were Josh O’Meara, Ariel Lucas-Turner, Arianna Price. 颁发了本学期最佳过渡学生奖 to Ava Kraft.

MCCC校友、“通往大学之路”实习生Erica Bennett在毕业典礼上致辞. 贝内特于5月16日以最优等的成绩从MCCC毕业，并获得了证书 in Human Services.

在她的演讲中，她鼓励毕业生永远不要放弃.

“不管它看起来是什么样子，不管它可能有多不舒服，不管其他人是否看起来更像 合格，或者你必须重新开始多少次，或者面对新的或不同的事情， never give up on yourself,” Bennett said. “We all have a reference point now what it looks like to not give up on ourselves. Congratulations, graduates of 2024. Now go forth – you all got this.”

MCCC的门户项目是宾夕法尼亚州仅有的两个项目之一，共有28个项目 national programs in 19 states across the country. It is one of the first colleges 成为风向标决赛选手，这是一项表彰项目或活动的全国性奖项 已经被设计并成功实施，以促进或支持教学 and learning.

共有21个学区-博伊尔镇，切尔滕纳姆，殖民地，丹尼尔布恩，埃克塞特， 哈伯罗-霍舍姆，詹金敦，诺里斯敦，北宾夕法尼亚，欧文J. Roberts, Perkiomen Valley, 凤凰城，波茨格罗夫，苏德顿，斯普林菲尔德，斯普林福特，上都柏林，上 Merion, Upper Moreland, Upper Perkiomen和Wissahickon -与MCCC合作，参考 students to the program.

此外，合作伙伴PECO和Univest也为该项目提供了资金支持 and student scholarships.

MCCC’s Gateway team includes Program Manager Michelle Kulla; Resource Specialist Esau Collins; and faculty Michael Baron, David Pica, Stephanie Wuertz and Dr. Victoria Vetro.