Summer graduation for 100 St. Paul students
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The St. Paul Public School District held a commencement ceremony this weekend for more than 100 students who graduated.
The school district started summer graduations three years ago as a way to give students who needed a little more time another opportunity to go through commencement.
Eighteen-year-old Aqueelah Oddie, who attended Gordon Parks High School, had to take health and geometry classes online over the summer.
"I finally get to walk across the stage," Oddie said. "I was supposed to the first time, but something went wrong and now I'm just finally getting to do it after all this hard work and struggling to get credits and stuff, finally get to walk across the stage."
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And her diploma comes just in time: Oddie said she will start a nursing assistance program at St. Paul Tech on Monday.
Amina Darling also graduated from Gordon Parks High School.
"It means that I'm starting a whole other life now," she said, "and I need to be successful to be able to do what I want to do in life."
Darling says she hopes to get a job for a few months before starting college in January.
The ceremony was held Saturday on the campus of the University of St. Thomas.
