HS Graduation a Family Affair
- June 6th 2025
- School News
Kelly Theriault and her son, Jayden Crawford, are both graduating this month.
Photo: Kelly Theriault
By Christina Parks
Kelly McLean Theriault will receive her high school diploma from Sanford Community Adult Education on June 11, just five days after her son, Jayden Crawford, gets his from Sanford High School.
Theriault,36, said it was important to her to finish the same year as Jayden, 17, her firstborn child.
For her, graduation is the culmination of 18 years of intermittent studies in the program. She first came to SCAE in 2007, but life got in the way, and she left school to have two children and work multiple jobs. She returned many times to the program, trying to overcome her nemesis, the math exam. Finally, in April, she passed all her HiSET, or high school equivalency exams.
In another first for her, Theriault will give a speech at graduation. Theriault credits her family and the teachers and staff at SCAE with encouraging her to keep going. Her advice to others who have not completed their high school diploma is, “Never give up!”
The high school credential is already changing her life. In April, immediately after passing her exams, she started a job with Living Innovations, working with intellectually disabled people.
“I have been trying to get into this company for a long time but unfortunately, I needed my high school diploma, which is one of the reasons I got myself in gear and got it,” she said. Being a direct support profession, or DSP, “has always been my dream job because I’ve learned from Adult Ed that if you set your mind to something you can do it, and that’s how I feel with these individuals. They are determined and they want to reach their goals, and I want to be the one to help them!”
SCAE Director Jayne Perkins applauded Theriault’s accomplishments. “Kelly is representative of many of our students who, often through no fault of their own, had to find another path. Then they found Adult Education,” she said. “We meet them where they are and support them throughout their journey.”
SCAE offers high school completion options, English as a second language classes, and more than 200 enrichment classes a year, including in the arts and career paths. For more information, call 490-5145 or visit sanfordlearns.com.
