On Thursday, May 27, Perspectives Calumet High School and Perspectives Calumet High School of Technology, opened four years ago, held their first-ever graduation.  Over 100 students participated in the joint ceremony. The guest speaker was Tony Anderson, Vice-Chair and Midwest Managing Partner, Ernst & Young LLP, and a long-time supporter.

Also in attendance were several community leaders including Pastor Michael Pfleger of The Faith Community of St. Sabina, Adrienne Leonard of the Calumet High School Transition Advisory Council, and Carlos Nelson and Ernie Sanders of the Greater Auburn-Gresham Development Corporation, who shared wonderful stories and photos of the event.

On Friday, May 28, the Rodney D. Joslin campus honored nearly forty graduates. Their guest speaker was Judge Diane Shelley, from the Cook County Circuit Court.

There were tears and shouts of congratulations as families enthusiastically supported their graduates as students jubilantly tossed their graduation caps in the air after turning their tassels. Over 96% of our graduates will be enrolling in college. What an achievement!  We wish them well in their post-secondary endeavors!

Anthony Davis, rising senior at Perspectives Rodney D. Joslin campus, is getting noticed lately.  In a recent Chicago Sun-Times article Anthony was reported as a big-time basketball prospect for college coaches.

Anthony is ranked nationally by Scout and Rivals as a Top 10 basketball prospect of the Class of 2011. During his participation in the National Basketball Player's Association (NBPA) Top 100 camp in Charlottesville, Va. this month, Anthony was named the camp's Most Outstanding Player.  He has received scholarship offers of interest from every major basketball program in the country including University of Illinois, Syracuse University, Georgetown University, and Harvard University. In addition, he is currently in talks with Duke University and the University of North Carolina.

Even with all the attention, Anthony has chosen to complete his high school career with Perspectives. As quoted in the Chicago Sun-Times, Anthony says, "I've been [at Perspectives] since sixth grade. I stayed there for the academic program. I didn't want to leave my team. They really needed some players, and other teams had good players already, so I couldn't abandon my team like that.''

This summer Davis will be traveling the country playing club basketball and also participating in summer basketball with his Perspectives teammates. He is an honor roll student ranking in the top ten of his class.  Anthony says he is going to take this summer to visit some colleges and begin to narrow down his final college choice.

Angel Heard, Perspectives alumna from the class of 2009 just completed her first year of a four year scholarship to the Art Institute of Chicago.

She is pursuing her Bachelor of Arts with an interest in painting. Asked to reflect back on her first year in college she says, "It was a crazy year.  It was a lot of new experiences for me. It was fun and exciting to be on your own and pursuing something that I had a passion for." 

She felt that Perspectives'
A Disciplined Life© principles helped prepare her for college and when asked to give advice to this year's graduates she said, "It requires more than being smart to be successful in college. You have to have determination to help yourself and others. Using A Disciplined Life© principles was crucial in my success this year."