118 Graduate From Alternative Program
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Bhula Spencer stood on the platform of the auditorium at the Watts Labor Community Action Committee and addressed the other 117 students who, like her, received their high school diplomas Friday after graduating from the Maxine Waters Employment Education Center.
The students and about 250 guests cheered loudly as Spencer announced that she was planning to go to college. They laughed and cheered when she told of the fun she had at the prom. After all, Spencer is 67.
Spencer was just one of several inspirational student speakers who were among those honored for completing the alternative high school program in Watts. There was Moises Murillo, who spoke from a wheelchair, his legs paralyzed in an accident.
“After the accident, my wife left me and my spirit was broken, but now I am very pleased my life has changed for the better,” Murillo said.
The largest ovation was reserved for the keynote speaker, attorney Johnnie L. Cochran Jr., who urged the class to “soar with the eagles. . . . Make excellence your goal in whatever you do in life.”
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