DAVIS – Employees, Cadets and staff at the Kenneth “Honey” Rubenstein Center gathered Thursday with special guests, parents and Division of Juvenile Services Staff for commencement exercises, graduation and a school award ceremony.
Dan Dilly, Superintendent of the Kenneth “Honey” Rubenstein Center, said this was the first time the parents were invited to participate in the graduation exercises.
“I think this is our third graduation ceremony,” Dilly said. “We are looking to expand what we are doing with the families and trying to get them more involved so when these young men come back home, they have a better idea of what their families expect.”
Dilly said the Rubenstein Center is working to be more involved with the community, especially those communities where these young men are coming from.
Junior Helmick is the Principal at the Kenneth “Honey” Rubenstein Center. He said he agrees with Dilly and said part of the goals of the center is to reach out more to the families.
“We want to make a connection and communicate what we are doing here with the families,” Helmick said. “This is a milestone for these kids. One student said he came here with nothing and said he feels he is leaving the center with everything. This is an opportunity for the students to be showcased, honored and be rewarded for the fact that they have completed their requirements for a high school diploma. Many said if they had not been here at the center, they never would have completed this goal.”
Gayle Manchin, member of the West Virginia State Board of Education, former first lady and wife of Senator Joe Manchin, D-WV, was the keynote speaker for the afternoon. She congratulated the graduates for their accomplishments and asked those in the room to think back on moments that made a difference in their lives.
“I remember the Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Telethons on Labor Day Weekends,” Manchin said. “At the end of the telethon, neon lights would come up and they would highlight how much money had been raised. It was always several million dollars, which was a great deal of money back then. They always ended the show with a song written by Elvis Presley, ‘I Believe.’”
Manchin said the end of the telethons when they would sing that song made an impression on her life.
“It starts out ‘For every drop of rain that falls, a flower grows; I believe that somewhere in the darkest night a candle glows; I believe for everyone that goes astray someone will come to show the way,’” Manchin said. “But what it highlighted to me is a deep sense of what we believe. What we believe about ourselves, what we believe about others and what we believe about life.”
She said something good can come from the bad in lives and good things happen even in our darkest moments.
“Somewhere ahead there is a candle or a light to show us the way,” Manchin said. “For any of us, if we have gone astray, someone will be there for us to show the way.”
Manchin said it instilled in her the importance to believe that good things can happen; to believe she could be whatever she wanted to be; and to believe there are people out there that care and will be a part of our lives.
“That is powerful,” Manchin said. “If you believe in yourself, you can accomplish what you set out to accomplish.”
Former Superintendent of the Kenneth “Honey” Rubenstein Center and Director of the West Virginia Division of Juvenile Services Stephanie Bond told thanked everyone for supporting the graduates and Cadets.
“There is a saying that says it takes a village to raise a child,” Bond said. “This facility is our village and it takes every single person who works here as well as these kids’ families to help them become the young men they want to be. I know from experience that is their goal – to help Cadets be what they want to be.”
Bond reminded Cadets graduating and those working toward graduation that education is the most important thing they can accomplish while at the center.
“I know many of you guys might be behind in school and you struggle in certain subjects, but trust me when I say if anybody can help you get to where you need to be, it’s the teachers here at the Rubenstein Center,” Bond said. “They are here for you and they will help you in any way you need to get back on the track you want to be on.”
Bond offered congratulations to those graduating. “I hope you are as proud of yourselves as we are proud of you,” she said. “What you have accomplished is no small task and it is going to stick with you guys for the rest of your lives. No one can take this away from you.”
Seven Cadets participated in the graduation ceremony on Thursday and 13 other students graduated in absentia. Cadets were from high schools across West Virginia.
