Birmingham Promise helping create bright futures for BCS graduates

Graduation day for Jackson-Olin HS/Birmingham Promise students
Published: Jun. 1, 2023 at 10:30 PM CDT

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) - Hundreds of Birmingham City Schools students can now call themselves high school graduates. Four of the seven high schools held their graduation ceremonies Thursday. The rest will happen Friday.

Some students say they’re feeling a sense of relief, excitement and a little nervousness for what’s to come after high school, but they’re glad to have finally made it!

“I feel really great!” said Jaxson Jones, P.D. Jackson-Olin High School Valedictorian. “I’m glad that it’s all over. The nerves were just running everywhere.”

“All of us - we’re very excited for real!” said Christopher Hayes, P.D. Jackson-Olin High School graduate. “All this 12 years of hard work, yeah -- it’s good right now.”

“I can’t be more proud of this senior class than I am right now,” said Principal Dr. Nichole Davis Williams. “We actually walked into the halls of Jackson-Olin together. As they came in as freshmen, I came in as their new principal.”

Hundreds of BCS graduates are headed to college after getting scholarship money from Birmingham Promise. They say there were a record number of applicants from seniors this year. Over 2,000 seniors applied for Birmingham Promise scholarships this year with 524 of them accepted for the program.

That means hundreds of students will now get to pursue higher education who may not have had the opportunity to do so without the program.

Birmingham Promise says the scholarships cover tuition and mandatory fees. They’re available to graduates of Birmingham City Schools who attend public colleges and universities in Alabama.

The executive director of Birmingham Promise says it’s to make college more accessible and affordable for these students.

“I was very excited ‘cause I was like I don’t have to pay for tuition so I’m very excited Birmingham Promise blessed me with that scholarship,” said Hayes. He plans on majoring in sports management at Alabama A&M.

“It’s going to impact my future by paying for the rest of my tuition, everything that’s not covered, and help me get to my goal, help me to be where I want to be in life to make everybody proud,” said Jones who is attending UAB to study pre-health biology.

They both will be taking lessons learned through high school with them to the next phase of education.

“Always attend class and go to school on time,” said Hayes.

“Do not shy away from anything, regardless if you’re scared or not,” said Jones. “Put yourself out there. Learn more about yourself. Learn more about this world. There’s so much out there you have to learn from.”

The school also honored one of their very own during the ceremony who didn’t get the chance to walk the stage.

“His name was Dalton Hawkins and he did pass away during the pandemic of COVID,” said Dr. Davis Williams. “We were really really devastated that happened... but his family is so so supportive of him and everything he wanted to do in life.”

Jackson-Olin, Parker, Wenonah, and Woodlawn High Schools held their ceremonies Thursday but celebrations continue Friday where the seniors of Huffman, Carver, and Ramsay High School will get to grab their diploma.

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