Martha Coronel was a student at Cabrillo High School when she learned she was pregnant 25 years ago. She transferred to Reid, a continuation high school, before pausing her education as a senior when she learned she had a second child on the way. But that wasn’t the end of the story.
More than two decades later, she has earned her high school diploma through a free program offered by the Long Beach Public Library. She said her kids — seven in total, some of whom have gone on to college — were her inspiration.
The Career Online High School allows adults 19 and older to earn their diplomas through a self-paced online program, available to Long Beach residents who have a library card. Students have 18 months to complete the curriculum, which covers standard high school subjects, including English, math, science and social studies, said Viviana Garcia, who coordinates the program. It also includes a career component, helping students prepare for jobs ranging from child care to commercial driving to hospitality, she said.
That attracted Coronel to the program. For years, she had been babysitting and wanted a “better job,” she said, yet most applications asked for a high school diploma. The program’s childcare career path option seemed like a perfect fit.
Coronel was able to transfer some of her high school credits toward her diploma, and she finished the remainder of her credits in six months, often spending 10 to 12 hours a day on her courses, she said.
Since the program began in Long Beach a decade ago, 160 students have earned their diplomas, Garcia said. Yet in recent years, it has grown significantly. Fifty-three students are currently enrolled as students.
In August, 32 students graduated from the program and participated in a ceremony at the Billy Jean King Main Library — the largest graduating class in the history of the program, Garcia said.
Coronel was one of them. When she walked into the library to pick up her cap and gown the day of graduation, she learned that a short speech she’d prepared had been selected to be read as part of the ceremony. She was nervous and surprised, she said, but she stood before the audience, which included her son who took a flight from his college campus and friends who had driven from Bakersfield.
“Today is a dream come true,” Coronel said, and addressed her children to say, “You have been my greatest inspiration and my reason to keep going.”
Now, Coronel is considering pursuing further education at Long Beach City College, and she has referred one of her daughters and another friend to the program, where they’re currently enrolled.
Garcia often observes students’ confidence develop as they complete the program. “It’s been beautiful to see,” she said. “Sometimes they’re embarrassed to say they haven’t gotten their high school diploma,” she said, but she sees that dissipate when they walk across the library’s graduation stage.
That happened for Nicky Weeks, another graduate of the program and longtime resident of Long Beach. “It was life-changing,” she said.
A parent of five, she said she’d poured everything into motherhood to keep her family afloat, but that meant her own education was delayed, even as she instilled in her kids the value of learning. “I’ve always told each and every one of my children that college may not be for everybody, but education is,” she said.
When she decided it was finally time to earn her diploma, she started the program and told only one person, because “I did this for me,” she said. “It was important to me to again finish what I started so long ago.”
Long Beach adults interested in earning their diploma can learn more and start the process by visiting the library’s Career Online High School page here.
Although the library faces some budget cuts next year, the high school program is not at risk, according to Maurina Cintron, a public affairs assistant for the library.