Garinger student goes solo to get high school diploma

Kassandra Banegas and her family moved from Honduras to Charlotte while she was in high school, and though her family moved to Colorado during her senior year at Garinger High, she chose to live on her own and get her diploma here.

But she fell short one credit -- a U.S. history class -- to graduate with her peers in June. She passed the class this summer and will graduate with about 170 of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools high school students Monday morning at 9 a.m. in Bojangles Coliseum.

Kassandra will attend Central Piedmont Community College, where she has already been taking classes in an effort to increase her GPA. She said she'd like to attend a university in the future.

"It won't mean the same as graduating in June with all my friends, but I had to do what I had to do," Kassandra said of Monday's ceremony. "I want my family to be proud of me. I also want to be proud of myself when I receive my high school diploma."

Garinger High challenges freshmen to give back

Garinger High is challenging the new freshmen class to give back to their community.

On Sept. 4-5, during the DNC, about 300 freshmen will participate in a two-day workshop aims to educate students about health and nutrition, unity, and the significance of entrepreneurship.

 The workshop will focus on knowledge, health and community. Students will discover the importance of taking care of one another and their urban neighborhood.

Each morning at 7:15 a.m., students will begin with Ujima, a Swahili word for "collective work and responsibility" as they prepare to take on active roles in the school year.

Following Ujima, students will participate in activities at eight stations across the campus: healthy food options, planting vegetables, business showcase, nutrition, cultural arts, fitness and "What's in your soil?" Students will rotate in groups through the stations for 25-minute increments.

Other students will learn how to set up a blog and on day two the groups will alternate. The Garinger garden, the Fit Lab and community outreach programs will play an integral part in the workshop.

Last year, Garinger revitalized its 10-year-old garden to address nutritional deficits and foster community ties. The Fit Lab is in its first year at the school.

The school said outreach will continue to grow, with plans to invite the surrounding community to partake in exercise at the Fit Lab and offer neighbors a chance to volunteer in the school’s garden in exchange for free produce.