Spring Valley Resident 1 of 400 To Graduate From San Diego Job Corps

Proud parents and relatives filled the San Diego Job Corps gymnasium Tuesday evening to cheer on their 2011 Job Corps graduate.

About 400 students in 19 different trades were part of this year's graduating class, but some did not attend because they were at work, in college or advanced training, said Social Development Director Melina Williams.

All of the nation's 124 Job Corps centers joined forces Tuesday to sponsor the first-ever National Job Commencement Day, celebrating the day the Economic Opportunity Act was passed 47 years ago and Jb Corps was created.

To honor this date, the gymnasium was decked out in red, white and blue balloons.

Job Corps student Steven Williams, who learned the hotel and lodging trade, said in his commencement speech that he learned many skills from Job Corps, but what he learned the most was that hard work really does pay off.

“I’m a witness that hard work does and will get recognized,” he said.

 Sandra Dryden, the mother of Job Corps student Chevroy Dryden, who also learned the hotel and lodging trade said she couldn’t be more thankful for what Job Corps has done to her son.

“It means the world to all of us because it’s giving him a good start in a career that he learned, and having been in a nurturing environment and helped him focus a lot and he’s been very good and we’re proud of him,” said Sandra Dryden of Spring Valley.

“Some of the teachers have come up to me and said he is the most respected and smartest student that they know, so that makes me feel proud of him.”

She said Chevroy came from Jamaica to San Diego when he was 12 years-old and the transition was very hard on him. His mother said Chevroy’s next endeavor is to attend the hotel and lodging Job Corps Advanced School on Treasure Island in San Francisco, where he was recently accepted.