Northpoint Expeditionary Learning Academy (NELA) held it's first-ever graduation ceremony on Friday for the class of 2010. Seventeen students, dressed in black robes and hunter green sashes, walked down the aisle and up the stairs to the stage at the Rowle Simmons Adult Center.

This was actually the first, last and only graduation ceremony for NELA as a member of the Prescott Unified School District (PUSD) since the next school year (2010-2011) will mark NELA's first as a charter school.

NELA opened its doors as a school in August, 2006, introducing a new concept in learning to the Prescott Unified School District. Despite insidious opposition from teachers in other PUSD schools, the budget woes faced by all Arizona educational institutions and the startup hurdles any school must overcome; within the first four years, NELA became accredited, achieved an Excelling School label and set the example throughout the country as a model Expeditionary Learning high school. With their one-to-one laptop initiative; trips to foreign countries such as Mexico, South Africa, Germany and Cambodia; and unique intensives, such as Horsemanship, HipHop, a Photographic Exploration of the Homeless, Flight: Physics, History and Technology,  NELA blazed open opportunities throughout the district that all the schools benefit from. However, in the summer of 2009, it became apparent to supporters of Northpoint, both within the school and throughout the district that it was best for all involved if Northpoint were to become a charter school. That application was approved by the state in January of 2010. 

NELA School Director Geneva Saint-Amour referred several times to this graduating class as "pioneers", noting they had, "experienced being the first in the hallways with no existing traditions, no practices, no protocols. They created their own, not always with my approval."

NELA markets itself as a college prep school, which proved to be the truth. Fifteen students collected more than $200,000 in scholarships and awards, an average of over $13,000 apiece. The other two were foreign exchange students from Bangladesh and Lebanon and were not factored into the totals.

NELA isn't the only one leaving PUSD - after 28 years working in many different roles, PUSD Superintendent Kevin Kapp is retiring from the district. This seemed to make the ceremony almost bittersweet for Kapp, who offered the Commencement Address to the Graduates.

Kapp spoke to the students face to face with an intimate tone, as one who knew them well. And actually he did know most of them on a first-name basis, having taken wilderness trips with the class since the school's inception.

Listen to Kapp's address here (in three parts):

The graduates then were presented by their teachers, one at a time. After being presented, each student spoke of their experience at Northpoint. There were many tears as the graduates thanked their families and instructors and talked about what they had learned from the past four years.

Joan Fleming, President of the PUSD Governing Board then joined Kapp in handing out the diplomas, and Saint-Amour moved the tassel over to indicate the graduates' new status.

At the end, the students did what graduates always do - they happily tossed their caps into the air and hugged everyone within arm's reach.

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