Northwest senior soars towards the future with hope

Northwest High School senior Kassidy is planning to give future students the type of hope she has received from many others on campus.
 
Kassidy has overcome obstacles to create a solid path for her life. She met new friends and adjusted to a different set of classes after transferring from another school district in November 2022. She said students and staff have helped her make a positive transition to Northwest’s hallways.
 
“This school’s really good. They actually care,” Kassidy said. “I was having problems, and I got an in-school therapist, and they were like, ‘Okay, how can we help you?’ It was hard, but they made it easy.”

 
Kelsey Dady has worked with Kassidy as her school counselor for the past 18 months. She said it has been encouraging to watch Kassidy’s confidence grow during that time.
 
“Kassidy has really done a good job of coming to Northwest and making sure that she was aware of what she needed to do to make her goal of graduation,” Dady said. “She’s taken advantage of opportunities we have here at school to think about what she would like to do after she graduates, and she’s narrowed down an area of interest for a possible future career pathway.”

 
Principal Cedric Cooper said Kassidy has inspired other members of her family. She will attend Southeast Community College this fall to pursue a degree in early childhood education.
 
“Kassidy is a great role model for her younger siblings,” Cooper said. “She is paving the way in her family!”
 
Kassidy said it was hard to leave her friends at her former school. She also had to learn a different bell schedule, figure out which courses she needed to take and form friendships with people she had never met before.
 
Kassidy said Dady has been a key part of her successful story. She experienced a life-changing conversation this school year when Dady told her about Southeast Community College’s Learn to Dream Scholarship. The scholarship pays all tuition and fees at SCC for students who face financial barriers to attending college.
 
Learn to Dream covers 60 credit hours at SCC for LPS applicants who qualify. Students from other school districts across a 15-county area can receive a scholarship for 30 credit hours.

 
“Before, I didn’t know about Learn to Dream, and she said, ‘Oh, there’s Learn to Dream and it will help you,’ because mainly my problem with college is I didn’t have money,” Kassidy said. “She said Learn to Dream will help you cover it, and that opened a whole new world. It was amazing.”
 
Kassidy filled out a scholarship application and waited to hear for the outcome. She was elated when she found out she would be able to attend SCC.
 
“I never thought about college,” Kassidy said. “When you’re a kid coming from a family that has a lower income, no one tells you about it. You just think, ‘Oh, I’m not going to go to college.’ Then when there’s opportunities like that and people tell you about it and actually help you, then that’s a lot. It’s so good.”

 
Kassidy also has many positive interactions with her peers through the Northwest Hope Squad. The student organization is a peer support team that works to provide encouragement to everyone at school. The group provides information about suicide awareness, sponsors activities throughout the year and helps improve mental wellness.
 
Kassidy said she has gained friendships through her involvement with Hope Squad. She said it has been fun to complete activities and talk to her classmates. This spring, one of the group’s projects was creating a Hands of Hope sign. Kassidy and other students made handprints with purple paint to show others that they are all part of the Northwest family.
 
“It’s really good. I like it,” Kassidy said. “At my old school, we didn’t have anything like this, so I think the fact that us as kids, we know what it’s like, and if we can help other kids? I think that’s really awesome.”

 
Dady said Kassidy is part of a group of Northwest pioneers who are making the community proud. She and other Class of 2024 students will receive diplomas at the school’s first graduation ceremony at 6 p.m. Saturday, May 25.
 
“It’s been really neat,” Dady said. “As a building, we had a lot of students who came to Northwest because they were looking for a fresh start somewhere, and so we’re really excited to get to see our seniors who we know have worked really hard, including Kassidy, get to that goal line of graduation and get to walk across the stage as our first graduating class.
 
“It’s pretty special. I know everyone is pretty excited to see that happen.”
 
“When you’re a junior, you think, ‘Oh, I’ve got another year or so,’” Kassidy said. “But then you’re a senior, and you start to think about being an adult. It’s crazy. But there are people that help you. You’re not just out there on your own.”

Congratulations, Kassidy!

We wish you the best in your future endeavors.
We are thankful our educators could help you Launch at LPS!
 
 

Looking for LPS graduation information? Check out our graduation page at https://home.lps.org/graduation/ to get the details on celebrating your favorite high school grad.
 
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