The Robert E. Burton Adult School commencement was held on Friday, July 28 at San Quentin State Prison.
The graduation was the first student recognition the school has held since the pandemic forced the elimination of all graduation ceremonies beginning in 2020.
The school’s administration, staff and students all thoroughly enjoyed their day of recognition by sharing in the long-overdue celebration.
As the event began, high school equivalency teacher H. Lucas spoke about the significance of the day for all who participated.
“We’re all really excited because it’s the first graduation in four years,” Lucas said.
Teacher D. Searle emceed the ceremony. She noted that between June 2019 and June 2023, the Robert E. Burton Adult School had accumulated over 350 graduates from their combined career technical education and academic programs.
Searle proudly commented, “On behalf of our school staff, I extend our heartfelt congratulations to all our graduates who are present, as well as those who were unable to attend today. Among us are students who defied the odds through unparalleled challenges. Their resilience is truly inspiring and serves as a testament to their strength and character.”
For the event, the school combined all of its graduates from the numerous programs it offers, including vocational courses in computer-related technology, machine shop and vocational plumbing.
Besides adult basic education and vocational programs, students who had completed their college degrees were honored in the graduation ceremony as well. This included graduates from correspondence degrees from Coastline College, Columbia College, Feather River College, Lassen College and West Hills College.
The most prominent group of graduates was the forty-five incarcerated students who devoted themselves to earning their high school diplomas or high school equivalency by participating in the Robert E. Burton Adult School.
Perhaps the oldest graduate from the high school equivalency program was 66 years old John Gearhart, who has been a resident at SQ for the past three and a half years. He displayed the tenacity it takes for an incarcerated student to succeed.
Gearhart arrived from Wasco near the end of the Covid-19 quarantines at SQ and had to borrow books to study on his own before he took the GED exam. “I self-taught through GED; now it’s on to be of service with Sufi in the PLMP program and to continue my education at Mt. Tamalpais College,” Gearhart said.
“And I believe Moses was a little older than me,” joked Gearhart about his advanced age.
A special mention went to the mentors’ teacher A. Sufi, who started Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Peer Literacy Mentoring Program pilot project at The Q with the school’s vice principal, Dr. Worthington. The program, which uses peer mentoring to reduce illiteracy and improve reading comprehension, recognized the 10 men who had become certified mentors under the program.
PLMP graduate William Tolbert spoke about what the program means to him and his fellow mentors.
“We are here for a special reason,” he said. “To see a person’s eyes light up as they improve their reading skills is a blessing. Thirty-five months ago, Sufi gave me an opportunity to labor for freedom with an open heart that allowed me to move beyond my limitations. Education became my practice of freedom, and graduating from the Peer Literacy Mentoring Program shows me learning is a region where paradise can be created. Today’s graduation was paradise for me and a lot of other men,” Tolbert said.
