Graduation at Cypress Creek Academy

Detention Center

Of the many ceremonies and events I attended or participated in this past week, the one I want to share with you was the high school graduation ceremony for the Class of 2011, it was at the Cypress Creek Academy and Detention Center.  Yes, for those of you who weren’t aware, we have a public high school at the juvenile detention center in Lecanto.  Seven young men walked and a total of eighteen young man graduated from the Cypress Creek Academy Class of 2011.

As I waited in the lobby to be let in I was not  surprised to see Commissioner Winn Webb walk in.  Commissioner Webb is a former Citrus County Sherriff officer and deputy and he has great love for our community and its young people.  His wife Mrs. Webb worked for many years in our school district and speaks about those years fondly.  I was pleased and honored to share this day with Commissioner Webb.  Gayle Nobles, Coordinator of Special Academic Programs for Citrus County Schools attended the graduation with us.  Ms. Nobles took this opportunity to better orientate me  as to how our Citrus County Schools operate with the corrections center.

The guest speaker was Kevin Fagan, a former football defensive end who played seven seasons (from 1987 to 1993) for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League.  Mr. Fagan played college football at the University of Miami and is a member of the UM Sports Hall of Fame.  Mr. Fagan is also a Citrus County resident and active in youth and community programs.  Mr. Fagan spoke to the young men about making good choices in the future and about overcoming adversity.

The young men that were the Valedictorian and Salutatorian both give emotional and heartfelt speeches challenging each other to continue their  schooling.  I found myself drying my eyes at times.  It wasn’t hard to know how the speeches affected Commissioner Webb because something kept “getting in his eyes” too.

Cypress Creek Academy Principal Deon Copeland shared with the guests the importance of graduating as, “a person who gets his high school diploma or G.E.D. is 70% less likely to re-offend”.

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