MOSES LAKE — It was a small ceremony as commencements go, but the emotions were huge at the Columbia Basin Job Corps Center graduation.

“This is home,” said Susan Mann, the center’s liaison officer. “Most of the students are here for about a year, 24-seven. They become very, very well-bonded. That's actually the part of Job Corps that I've always loved, is that student bonding."

Eight Job Corps students received their certificates in their chosen field of training Thursday afternoon in the center’s recreational building, with an audience of about 200, many of whom burst into loud cheers at frequent intervals. After the students filed in to the strains of “Pomp and Circumstance” followed by the national anthem, student speaker Micheal S. Baker Jr., who studied culinary arts, took the podium.

“It's been an honor being friends, working with you, evolving with you,” Baker said. “Starting off here can be a struggle. You doubt yourself, you have others who doubt your capabilities. But that's the whole reason you come here. I want to you to know that you can get through that.”

Baker’s father, Joe Foster, is a 1988 graduate of CBJCC, also in the culinary program, Baker added.

Next, the students took flowers, two apiece, to the people in the audience who had had the most impact on their lives.

Center Standard Officer Johnny Lucas, who also served as master of ceremonies, then distributed the Center Standards Award to the four graduating students – Jesus Angel Lizarraga, Illyana L. Reyes, Baker and Jacob P. Humphries – who had made it through their time at the center with no disciplinary infractions.

“There are more rules (at the Job Corps center) than you could count, either written or implied or agreed-upon,” Lucas said. “For a student to make it through this program without any blemish on their disciplinary record is quite an accomplishment.”

The guest speaker was Jim McKiernan, director of the Grant County Fairgrounds.

“There are doers, and there are talkers,” McKiernan said. “Doers accomplish things. Talkers are never the ones that make the accomplishments happen. Based on the fact you are all graduating, I'm guessing you're all doers. That's a good thing. All of the major milestones for this country, the world, civilization – happened because of doers.”

McKiernan went on to encourage the new graduates to set goals for their lives, to listen to their consciences, to make time to volunteer in their community, and to believe in themselves.

“Trust in your abilities,” he said. “You've obviously accomplished this – you’re doers. Trust that you can take the next step to achieve what you want to achieve, and I guarantee you're going to be successful in life.”

One by one the students walked to the stage to receive their certificates from McKiernan, as GED instructor Jayne Buren read their names, a short bio and their future plans to the crowd. Then came the traditional turning of their tassels, and the new Job Corps graduates went out to face the world.

But not without a lot of congratulations and hugs from family and fellow students.

“I'm very proud of how determined he is and how successful he's been,” said Baker’s mom, Amy Gillette, after a teary hug from her son.

The center used to hold graduations about once a month as students completed their competencies, Mann said, but since the pandemic, the student body has been smaller, so currently they’re about once a quarter. Some of the graduates are already employed before graduation, she said, and some don’t return to the center for the ceremony. But Job Corps creates a support network that will serve them down the road, she said.

“Everybody's on the same mission to go out and get a livable career,” she said. “I often find students, supporting each other like 15, 20 years later. Students I knew from when I first started working here are still helping each other out. And they're still having that friendship and supporting each other through life.”

Joel Martin can be reached via email at jmartin@columbiabasinherald.com.

The graduates:

The April 2023 Columbia Basin Job Corps Center graduating class:

Isaias Alvarez, cement masonry

Micheal S. Baker Jr., culinary arts

Jaydan A., Davis, culinary arts

Jacop P. Humphries, certified nursing assistant

Kalaya P. Jackson, culinary arts

Jesus Angel Lizarraga, culinary arts

Illyana L. Reyes, culinary arts

Tyler R. South, carpentry