Tables were adorned with framed black-and-white portrait photographs of the graduates in their caps and gowns, and relatives chatted quietly as they waited for the honorees to enter the room. Sitting near graduate Nissia Belahi's picture was Nelly Rabinowitz, a physician's assistant at Briggs' school-based health center. She attended the event to support Belahi, as she has done for the past several years.

"I knew her in junior high," Rabinowitz said, smiling. "She started out a typical teenager."

Over the years, Rabinowitz has watched Belahi transform from a rambunctious adolescent into a strong young woman who is serious about her studies, she said. "She's going into nursing," Rabinowitz said, beaming with pride. "We've had a very close relationship."

Belahi was born in Algeria, Rabinowitz said. Her parents moved to the Norwalk area when Belahi was about 10 years old in search of a better life and a better education for their two daughters. "Education was the last thing on her list as a young girl now it is her priority."

Rabinowitz first met Belahi at the Briggs health center several years ago and became her mentor. "We came to like each other," Rabinowitz said. "Through boyfriend issues, parent issues, school issues, I tried to keep her on track."

The smaller classrooms and "constant nurturing" environment at Briggs helped Belahi "to flourish," Rabinowitz said. "Nissia exemplifies the typical student that comes to Briggs not knowing who they are and where they're going. There's no way she could have been in a big high school."

She added, "That was not just a school it was a second family."

The mother of fellow graduate Jonathan Addison agreed that the environment at Briggs helped him to succeed. Now he's thinking about his future, said Karen Addison. "He's trying to find a school where he can do music."

Her son wants to be a producer. "He likes rap," she said. The Briggs staff continues to work with him to try to find the right school to continue his education, she said.

Jonathan Addison transferred to Briggs last year after attending Brien McMahon High School. Briggs "was smaller, so he got more help," his mother said. "The staff was really good with him."

A positive influence was the school principal, Alaine Lane, who was "always trying to work with him and help him," Karen Addison said. "McMahon was just so big. Making it to class on time that was a struggle for him."

Karen Addison described her son as someone who makes friends easily. "He has a good heart. He likes to make people laugh," she said.

When asked what she hopes for her son's future, she said, "Just to succeed in everything he wants to be."

Soon after, the families and friends, Mayor Richard Moccia, Superintendent of Schools Salvatore Corda, state Sen. Bob Duff and members of the Board of Education clapped and cheered as the graduates descended the staircase and took their seats on the dance floor. Lane welcomed everyone and announced that this class had set a new standard for the school. "This class of graduates, 2006, are our first class to participate in our ever-expanding partnership with Norwalk Community College," she said.

September 2005 marked the beginning of the Briggs/Norwalk Community College Academy, through which half of the graduating class attended NCC on Fridays and participated in a college English class. "This is a very exciting program," Lane told the audience. "You graduates proved what we at Briggs knew all along that you were perfectly capable of completing college work."

Lane said that after meeting with each student, she was impressed with his or her decisions, some of which have been very difficult, like "severing ties with friends who have been holding you back."

Lane went down the line of graduates, calling them by each by name and offering anecdotes about their progress or the obstacles they had to overcome to earn their diplomas.

"Jonathan, you made some really hard decisions this year. First you made the decision to return to Briggs after returning to your old high school, recognizing that the smaller environment at Briggs would help you to graduate, and when your friends, your 'boys' tried to get you to leave school early, you told them 'no.' You returned to Briggs to graduate from high school." The room erupted with applause.

"Nissia, you also made the choice to return to Briggs," she said. That decision, Lane added, allowed Belahi to take part in the Briggs/NCC Academy and make the dean's list, among other accomplishments.

"Maxi [Dorleans], what can I say? You came to us as a hall walker," Lane said. "Then you turned yourself around so much that the entire student body voted you most improved student."

Jemard Davis, Lane said, learned how to say he was sorry. "That's a huge, huge accomplishment for you, and I'm really proud of you."

John Acosta, Angella Barinotto, Sean Bracey, Tanisha Edward, Edner Lors, Chris Mungo, Xanious Ross and Melissa Vega were addressed in turn, and Joseph Wright was absent.

"Academically this class has set a new standard for our school. You are the first class to have to pass the [Connecticut Academic Performance Test] and participated in the dreaded grad prep classes in English, math and science. You worked hard, and the quality of your work was excellent, because, again, you are perfectly capable academically," Lane said.

NCC Professor Mike Butcaris, who taught the Briggs students at NCC, gave the keynote address. He, Corda and Board of Education member Richard Fuller commended the graduates on their achievements despite adversity and wished them well in the future.

Moccia sat among the students and offered his congratulations as well. "You overcame a lot because you made the right decisions at the right time, and let me tell you, keep doing that. Don't let anybody talk you into not being yourself. You've received a wonderful education," he said. "As mayor, this is what makes my job so nice to be able to meet all of you, see what you've accomplished. They can never take that diploma away from you. Remember that."

Belahi, the student speaker, thanked the faculty members for their continued support through the years.

"The first time I ever heard of Briggs High School I was attending Brien McMahon," she said. One of her friends was getting transferred to Briggs. "I asked, 'What's Briggs High School?'" Her friend informed her, "That's where all the bad kids go."

She told him, "Well, you're not bad," but he felt that people at McMahon thought so, she said.

"A couple of months went by, and high school just wasn't fun for me anymore," Belahi continued. "I started skipping classes here and there, and then I went from skipping classes to skipping school."

After a while her absences caught up with her. "My house master called my mother and told her about me skipping school. When my house master told me that she called my mother, I knew that I was in so much trouble because my mother sacrificed so much in her life to get our family where we are today. One thing that she never played around with was school," Belahi said, fighting back tears.

Her mother asked her why she had not been going to school. "I remember I was so scared that I couldn't say anything. Then she told me, 'We have a meeting with the house master the next day so be ready to talk then.'"

The next day Belahi's house master informed her that she would be transferred to Briggs. "I said, 'Isn't that where all the bad kids go?' She said, 'Yes. You're getting transferred there next quarter,'" Belahi said, and her mother signed off on the transfer papers.

With the help of the Briggs staff and Lane, Belahi got through her high school years.

"Briggs wasn't a school for bad kids after all," Belahi said. It provided an environment with more one-on-one work with teachers. "The teachers really care about whether you succeed in school and life. Briggs was the best thing that ever happened to me."

Fighting back more tears she added, "I want to thank my mother for being the strongest woman alive and the best mother I could have. I want to thank my father, who I love so much, and my favorite and only sister and all of my friends who are so close to me and, again, congratulations Class of 2006."

source: www.norwalkcitizen-news.com