By JOHN EBY
Dowagiac Daily News

Larry Schmidt, who for a decade guided the Pathfinders Alternative and Adult Education Program which graduated 50 Monday night at Southwestern Michigan College Mathews Center East, taught 28 years at a high school in a double classroom subdivided by an “accordion” down the middle in Tucson, Ariz.

“I hate bulletin boards,” said Schmidt at his last such ceremony. Randy Yoder will take his place next year.

“I still hate bulletin boards. I’ve hated them for 40 years. Every year after my evaluation my principal would mention to me about my bulletin boards being a little deficient. Shortly before she retired, I was in her office and decided to beat her to the punch. I said, ‘If you’re going to bring up the issue of the bulletin boards, I suggest you do one of them yourself.’

“Several weeks later I came to school and walked into my classroom and there was a brand-spanking new bulletin board in all the brightest colors that said, ‘Your future is so bright I need shades.’ Below that bold lettering was this pair of bright yellow-framed sunglasses attached to the board. It stayed there until the last day I ever walked out of that classroom – long after she left. The moral of that story is” – he’s slipping on some really big sunglasses – “I truly see brightness coming from each and every one of you to where I need shades.”

Pathfinders also showed some of the DVD “A Peacock in the Land of  Penguins.” The moral of that story, Schmidt said, is “the peacock discovered the land of opportunity, with all kinds of birds there. More than a place, it’s a state of mind. I relate that to our graduates a couple of different ways. We have a cross-section of birds. No two of you are the same. Each of you is unique. You’re your own special kind of bird.

“Every class is different and that couldn’t be more true than the really interesting, rewarding group we have here tonight. I have to tell you, the overriding question as we got ready for graduation the past couple of weeks has been, ‘Do we have to wear clothes under our gown?’ I do believe that says a lot about this class. By the way, I checked, and they all wore clothes.

“Pathfinders has helped each of you find your land of opportunity, whether it is right here at SMC, or at LMC or KVCC or at cosmetology school or trade school. A wide range of people are going a wide range of directions to get and keep a job you otherwise wouldn’t have been able to get and keep. I like to think most of you have a more positive state of mind than you did when you met all of us at Pathfinders.”

Since Schmidt, despite the presence of his wife of almost 43 years and daughter, lied when he said the 50 graduates, up from 41, equaled his age, Pathfinders brought out of retirement former superintendent Larry Crandall, a fellow Central Michigan University Chippewa, to shed light on his character.

Partly their understanding developed while trying to move an overstuffed couch up a flight of stairs, then turn 90 degrees into a graduate’s apartment. After the third trip the furniture was donated to Goodwill.

“He may say he’s 50,” Crandall said. “I’m older than 50 and he was at Central Michigan the same time I was – only he was two years ahead of me.”

Crandall started as superintendent in 1999-2000.

Alternative education occupied two classrooms in the auto trades building where the technology department is housed today.

Schmidt was a “frustrated” teacher.

“The program was floundering,” Crandall recalled. “We were not meeting the needs of our students. (Schmidt) recommended a program at Penn-Harris-Madison in Mishawaka based on online learning. I became convinced his passion and excitement were genuine for a program like that to succeed in Dowagiac. We looked around and right across the street was an airplane hangar” the Board of Education, headed then and now by Randy Cuthbert, who presented diplomas, agreed to invest $300,000.

“They put their money where there feelings are to create a fabulous educational environment. It still looks almost brand new, which doesn’t happen in many alternative ed facilities. That’s a credit to all of you and the staff.”

Fast forward 10 years, from  2000-2001 when Pathfinders was born, and the program has been responsible for 58 students earning high school diplomas and another 114 qualifying for their GED certificates.

“While the building and online curriculum were important,” Crandall said, “the foundation and one of the constants has been Larry Schmidt. He had an unwavering commitment and passion to help each student succeed. I know first-hand that he has helped students through personal challenges, investing his own time, often on weekends, and money, taking students on college visits and helping them find child care, college scholarships, even in some cases to find housing when they had nowhere to live. And helping them find jobs. It’s safe to say many of you graduates would not be here preparing to receive your diploma or certificate without the personal assistance of Larry Schmidt. He created a culture of success and expectations for the staff.”

Diplomas

Whitney Abbott
Charles Edwin Allen Jr.
Kaitlyn Boyd
Janice Chappell
Bethani Anne Hall
Billie Jo Hammond
Mark Kruger

GED certificates

Donovan Allen**
John Armstrong
Anna Bailey
Douglas Barger**
Victoria Burden
Caressa Burwell
Tanya Calamari
Breanna Clark**
Ryan Cook
Philip Coulson
Veronica Dazell
William Deming
Brooks Diamond
Christopher Diamond
Dusten Downey
Donald Ferrier
Vibiana Gasca**
Tara Ginther
Michelle Helmuth
Jennifer Holliday
David Huff
Nicole Leiting
Holli Lillie
Marcus McNichols**
Jacob Miller
Heather Mix
Sandra Moore
Dikieska Murray
Cody Myrkle**
Suzanne Newton
Dale Parsons
Terra Phillips
Victoria Robison
Mercedes Sharp
Anthony Tartt-Smith
Margaret Tuka
Tiffany Tyus
Jammie Waterson
Bruce Wheeler
Kimberlee White
Leslie Wilder
Lindsey Williams
Rachael Woods**
** Pending finals results from Oklahoma Scoring Testing Service

Karen Pugh, Pathfinders instructor, announced the Lifelong Learning Scholarship for Jammie Waterson.

It is full tuition available for up to four years, plus $100 per semester to apply to books. Waterson, a mother of two who has participated in the No Worker Left Behind program, plans to study nursing.

Along with Waterson, Brooks Diamond, Nathan Diamond, Donald Ferrier, Billie Hammond, Suzanne Newton and Rachael Woods participated in the NWLB partnership with Niles Community School, Benton Harbor Area Schools, Brandywine Schools, Cassopolis Public Schools, Lake Michigan College and Michigan Works! in a grant promoted by the State of Michigan.

The group was awarded a $250,000 grant with the stipulation that 52 adult students from the combined school districts would participate in the opportunities.

Pathfinders was also a 2019-2010 testing site for the High School Equivalency Program (HEP) program directed by Jerry McCormick and sponsored by Van Buren Intermediate School District and Michigan State University. HEP graduates are Geoffrey Butler, Maria Flores, Leticia Lopez, Salvador Lopez Jr., Santa Lopez-Robles, Whitney Peterson and Richard Reeves.