This 101-year-old man has finally graduated from high school
After waiting more than 80 years, Merrill Pittman Cooper finally graduated from high school. financial reasons, Jefferson County Schools said in a statement. Storer College was established in 1865 to serve newly freed slaves following the Civil War, according to the US National Park Service. The school was one of the only educational resources for black residents of West Virginia. It served over 7,000 students before closing in the mid-1950s. In college, Cooper studied Latin, biology, history, English, and math. In 2018, after a long and successful career in the transportation industry, Cooper visited the school, which is now part of Harpers Ferry National Historic Park. There, he expressed to his family members his regret that he had not graduated. To help her achieve her dream, her family reached out to park staff, who worked with local, regional and state partners to honor the centennial with a ceremony and graduation March 19. Jefferson County Schools, Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, the National Alumni Association of Storer College, and the West Virginia Department of Education were all involved. “Jefferson County Schools is committed to helping every student, young or old, achieve their dreams,” Bondy Shay Gibson-Learn, the school system superintendent, said in the JCS statement. “For Mr. Cooper, that meant graduating from high school. We are honored to help make that dream a reality.”
After more than 80 years of waiting, Merrill Pittman Cooper finally graduated from high school.
Cooper, 101, attended Storer College in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, from 1934 to 1938 but dropped out during his senior year when his family moved to Philadelphia for financial reasons, Jefferson said County Schools in a statement. declaration.
Storer College was established in 1865 to serve newly freed slaves following the Civil War, according to the United States National Park Service. The school was one of the only educational resources for black residents of West Virginia. It served over 7,000 students before closing in the mid-1950s. In college, Cooper studied Latin, biology, history, English, and math.
In 2018, after a long and accomplished career in the transportation industry, Cooper visited the school, which is now part of Harpers Ferry National Historic Park. There, he expressed to his family members his regret that he had not graduated.
To help her achieve her dream, her family reached out to park staff, who worked with local, regional and state partners to honor the centennial with a ceremony and graduation on March 19.
Jefferson County Schools, Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, the National Alumni Association of Storer College and the West Virginia Department of Education were all involved.
“Jefferson County Schools is committed to helping every student, young or old, achieve their dreams,” School System Superintendent Bondy Shay Gibson-Learn said in the JCS statement.
“For Mr. Cooper, that meant graduating from high school. We are honored to help make that dream a reality.”
