Home honors

There were similarities – the bright blue gowns, the caps lined with bobby pins to hold them snug among curls, the audience full of squirmy brothers and sisters and smiling parents.

But the big difference between mainstream school graduations and the Deer Park Home Link graduation held Tuesday was highlighted by program director Carol VanWormer after she asked all the home-school mothers in the room to stand.

“Without them, this (program) would not be possible,” she told a full gym at Arcadia Elementary School. “They’re the ones who really made this happen. They sacrificed and prayed … and sometimes gave up their sanity. But they did it because they felt it was worth it.”

Deer Park’s Home Link program, run through the Deer Park School District, offers a variety of courses to kindergartners through high-school seniors. It started four years ago with 38 kids. This year, it had 300. Other districts like Mead and Spokane Public Schools have similar programs that reach out to home-schoolers, offering courses to round out their learning while letting the parents stay in control of their children’s education.

Deer Park senior Rachel Deniston spent a year in the Home Link program and loved it. After taking a cooking class this year, she now plans to study culinary arts at Spokane Community College. It’s a plan that may include moving out on her own in the fall.

“I’ll really miss it, having my mom teach me every day,” she said. “But we have a really good relationship.”

Tuesday’s ceremony celebrated the graduation of kindergartners and eighth-graders as well as seniors. The eighth-graders were given chocolate bars, and the kindergartners were given giant balloons shaped like frogs, monkeys, butterflies and sharks.

The parents of the seniors handed them their diplomas, flipped their tassels and gave them tight hugs under arches of red, white and blue balloons.

“We’re so glad God trusted us with you. You’re such a blessing,” one parent told a smiling graduate.

“You’ve made us both very proud,” another dad told his daughter. “Congratulations!”

But as much as the ceremony celebrated the graduates, it also celebrated their parents.

Rachel Jones is the fourth of Susan Jones’ children to graduate, but the first to be home-schooled.

“She just really wanted it,” Susan Jones said. “She was able to excel outside of the classroom.”

Just then, Rachel walked by, beaming. “I’m graduating a year early,” she said.

Susan Jones clearly shared some of her daughter’s pride. “The feeling is awesome. There were late nights and weekends. Sometimes school was seven days a week. Sometimes it wasn’t for several weeks,” she said. “I feel like I achieved way more as a parent. I saw every step she made. With the others, I saw their grades, but not the constant achievements and pitfalls.”

Besides the parents and friends of the graduates, teachers dotted the audience, as disbelieving as the parents that so much time had already passed.

“I can’t believe I’m not going to be seeing her any more,” crafts teacher Olivia Alban mused about one student. “We’ve really become a little family.” self end