Students recognized for turning themselves around

CENTER LINE — Crothers Elementary fifth grader Marya Al-Bazi couldn’t hide her emotions when reading the letters she wrote to her parents and her teachers Toby Long and Angie Robb.

She thanked them for “being there for me” and let them know how much she appreciates their sacrifices and guidance. She also told her teachers how much she will miss them when she moves on to middle school.

“I hope that we can still talk, even if it’s just text,” she said before telling her mom and dad, “You gave me everything without hesitation. I know time keeps moving forward and the clock never pauses, but I pray with my soul that God grants me the years, the opportunity and the strength to show you truly how grateful I am for the love you have given me.”

Al-Bazi’s family fled the war in Iraq to Turkey and then came to the U.S., where Al-Bazi enrolled in the Center Line Public Schools district. She was among 13 students honored on May 20 at the district’s annual Turn Around awards breakfast in the Center Line High School media center. During the ceremony, educators gave speeches about the students they nominated, and each honoree received a plaque.

The awards were presented to students who overcame challenges to improve their academics and behavior. Teachers, counselors, principals and support staff nominated the students from all different grade levels. District Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources Shannon McBrady created the program many years ago.

“You’re here because you’ve made a pretty big change in your life. This doesn’t happen just by chance. You did this because you changed,” McBrady said. “It wasn’t luck. It wasn’t how the cards fell. It’s not by chance. These positive changes happened by the decisions that you made, the effort that you put in and the things you accomplished.”

Roose Elementary teacher Corinna Schultz never gave up on fourth grade student Ja’Mir Royal-Terry, who went “from a scared young boy who was always in survival mode to a strong young man who solves problems, cares about his academics and behavior and helps keep the classroom calm.”

Royal-Terry attended many schools before coming to Roose, where he had many moments of anger, shouting, aggression and stress.

“It would make sense for you to not want to trust another teacher, who in your young eyes may seem like they didn’t care, either,” Schultz said. “We spent many months learning to trust each other, learning you were in a safe and respectful environment. In those months, I saw a boy that lashed out because that is what he knew from school. The student that stands here today with me is incredible.”

Peck fifth grader Anna Powers, present with teacher Nicole Colo and Principal Meghan Evoy, didn’t want to come to school last year because of bullying.

“I wanted to quit school so bad, but I didn’t. I continued on,” Powers said. “This year I’m finally doing amazing. I’m in a class that actually loves me and that actually is making me want to go to school more often. I want to thank my mom, my dad, my brother, and Ms. Colo and Ms. Evoy for getting me this far.”

Center Line High School counselor Riley Prock honored senior Corday White.

“When I first met Corday as a sophomore, he was not a stranger to breaking rules. When I got to know him better, I was able to piece together the freshman year he was in quite a bit of trouble often,” Prock said. “His junior year, I started to see a lot of improvement but then this past year, his senior year, has been an unwavering time of improvement.”

“I just want to say thank you to the board for letting me receive this,” White said. “And just thank you.”

Other students honored were Crothers second grader Car’Dale Gayles and third grader Liam Garriott; Roose second grader Gary Profit and fifth grader Kaylynn Smith; Wolfe Middle School sixth grader Olivia Jenkins and eight graders Robert Givens and Erin King; Center Line High School senior Naima Smith, and Academy 21 senior Cailee Green were the remaining Turn Around recipients. Fitness instructor Dani DeBusman was this year’s keynote speaker.