Staff photo / Dan Pompili Joseph Idley speaks about his struggles and successes as a graduate of Flying HIGH Professional Development Center’s Chemical Dependency Counseling Assistant program. Idley will receive his certificate in June but was among the 37 students honored at Thursday’s graduation ceremony at Flying High’s Youngstown Office.

YOUNGSTOWN — One of the Valley’s unique schools celebrated its newest graduates Thursday.

The Professional Development Center, a division of Flying HIGH Inc., honored 37 individuals, including an inaugural class of five students from Valley Christian

School. The students graduated with credentials in chemical dependency counseling assistant, certified nursing assistant, carpentry and welding.

Flying HIGH specializes in combining mental health and addiction recovery with workforce development by not only giving the people it serves marketable trade skills but also ensuring they have the soft skills to be good employees.

The educational services center at Flying HIGH’s Professional Development Center is certified and accredited the same as schools such as Choffin Career and Technical Center and Mahoning County Career & Technical Center.

The PDC has provided vocational training since 2011 and, since 2019, has held at least a dozen graduation ceremonies, usually in December and May.

Academic and Admissions Coordinator Donna Magada opened the ceremony with Whitney Houston’s 1991 Super Bowl rendition of the national anthem before offering the graduates congratulations and some sage spiritual advice, quoting Jeremiah 29:11 – “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

“Sometimes, though, the carrying out of the plan doesn’t go the way you thought it would,” she said, drawing parallels between God’s design and the efforts of an architect. “The process, however, from plans to finished product sometimes looks real messy.”

Founder and Director Jeffrey Magada told the graduates their efforts and success at Flying HIGH come with something of a change in identity, and hopefully in their mentality.

“I want you to know that from this day forward, you are an eagle,” he said. “The wings of an eagle have been specially designed to lock down in position to gain altitude, so that if an eagle is caught in a storm, it can rise above it. No amount of turbulence can overcome the lockdown position of the eagle’s wings because of its ability to fly high.”

While some of PDC’s students simply sought vocational training, many of them turned to the program after battling mental health and addiction problems or being released from jail.

One woman said she used to fear wearing short sleeves because of needle track marks on her forearms. Now she’s learning to own them and wear them as symbols of her perseverance.

Kyle Casella, a graduate of the school’s basic and advanced welding programs, had to fight back tears as he expressed his gratitude.

“Flying HIGH saved my life. I don’t know where to begin. I dug myself a hole so deep, I thought I was never going to get out, and I thought my life was over, more or less,” he said. “I had enough. I had enough growing up with all the mistakes I made, fighting the disease of addiction. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. This program has a foundation built around people who struggle with diseases similar to mine. And ‘thank you’ just simply doesn’t cut how I feel about this program, about everyone who works for Flying HIGH, Jeff and Donna. It’s truly amazing what this program has done for me and my family.”

Wendy Badea, a carpentry graduate, said her journey and her experience at PDC brought a sense of faith and untapped confidence.

“Don’t waste one minute worrying. Worrying is worshipping the problem. Give it to God, and trust that He has you. For a long time, believing in myself felt like the hardest part. I knew I was called to do something more,” she said. “Please stop saying you’re a mess. Because God will take that mess and turn it into a beautiful message.”

The day’s keynote speaker was Western Reserve Port Authority Public Finance Manager and YSU Religion and Philosophy Instructor Sarah Lown. Lown also received the organization’s “Eagle Award for all her assistance in helping Flying HIGH find and secure the locations where it operates in Mahoning and Trumbull counties.

“There are many ways to succeed in this world, and I’m going to say that the best way to succeed is when you can all claim the victory together, and today is one of those days,” Lown told the students and their families.

In delivering something of a commencement address, Lown cited the flow theory, popularized by psychologist and author Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. The Hungarian academic asserted that when people are comfortably challenged by their work enough for it to be engaging, it helps to wire the brain and keep them healthy.

She said the spirit of that idea ties in with the one thing she has definitively learned in all her years of studying and teaching world religions and philosophy.

“The only thing I can definitely say to you is that all of us are spirits of being and light, more than we are flesh and blood. And that’s the good part of you, that’s the best part of you. If you can make your work life a place where you play out, and you grow that spirit, and you become like yourself, only more so, that is a beautiful spiritual path that can come with work.”

While most students received their certificates, some were included in the ceremony to honor their accomplishments thus far, but will complete their programs June 12.

The Chemical Dependency Counseling Assistant Program graduated 12 students this year, between the April and June cohorts – Shawn Bullock, Mercedez Hathcock, Felicia Tarpley-Robinson, Katherine Thomas, Erica Williams, John Accipiter Lela Decembly, Joseph Idley, Julie Lehman, Kerri Newman, Daniel Simerlink and Frederick Staten.

The Certified Nursing Assistant Program graduated nine between its March and May cohorts – Dynasty Bratton, Ronnece Gilbert, Ashley Gonzalez, Kayla Phillips, JaQualyn Wiggins, Matthew Burkholder, Octavia Flores, Brenisha Washington and Joann Wilson.

Carpentry will graduate Badea, Justin Clevenger and Curtis Sackett in its June cohort.

Welding graduated Casella, Walter Deecki, Benjamin Fontanez, Matthew Hanyak, Lorenzo Hendrix, De’Lauryn Holden, Terrence James, Rodney Lundy, Telisha Stanford and Lawrence Terry Jr., while Advanced Welding graduated Casella, Hanyak and Holden.