Diplomas mean a new beginning for teen moms

<p>This is not where Elizabeth Zamudio saw herself just a few years ago.</p><p>“When I was younger, I pictured my life a whole lot different,” she said. “I wanted to find love, I wanted to go to college, I wanted to get a great job. Instead, I took my life down a different path.”</p><p>That path led to a pregnancy at 17 when she was a student at Santa Rosa High School.</p><p>“I was so disappointed in myself,” she said.</p><p>She left Santa Rosa High and began taking independent study courses so her peers wouldn’t find out she was pregnant. She contemplated abortion and struggled with her family’s response.</p><p>Ultimately, Zamudio gave birth to her son Adrian and is now on the verge of graduating from high school.</p><p>On Monday, she and 81 other teenage parents from throughout Sonoma County were honored for earning their high school diploma or equivalent by working through the California School Age Families Education, or Cal-SAFE program.</p><p>There are five Cal-SAFE sites around Sonoma County and all offer day care while teenaged parents earn credits toward their high school diplomas and take parenting courses.</p><p>Cal-SAFE began in 2000, a merger of multiple state programs created to keep young mothers and fathers in school until graduation, while offering parental instruction and support.</p><p>In 1996, 521 babies were born to mothers ages 15 to 19 years old in Sonoma County, according to the state department of health. In 2006, that number fell to 411.</p><p>Statewide, only 33 percent of pregnant students not affiliated with Cal-SAFE graduate from high school, compared with Cal-SAFE’s graduation rate of 78 percent. In Sonoma County, that number is 82 percent, said David Putney, principal of San Antonio High School in Petaluma.</p><p>The 82 students who participated Monday make up the largest graduating class since the program started.</p><p>In addition to the certificates and medals presented Monday, most students will participate in formal graduations at their affiliated campuses in the coming weeks. </p><p>“Our goal would be that every teen parent in Sonoma County take advantage of the Cal-SAFE program,” said county superintendent Carl Wong. </p><p>“They all have a story, they have all overcome obstacles and beat the odds,” said Georgia Ioakimedes, director of the county’s Youth Development, Support and Leadership.</p><p>When Jan Mariah Gonsalves enrolled at Nueva Vista High Cal-SAFE program, she had fallen 120 credits behind as a Montgomery High student.</p><p>After she gave birth to her daughter Xariah, she started taking classes at Nueva Vista, Santa Rosa Junior College and Lewis Adult School to recover those credits.</p><p>“Here I am graduating,” she said. “I have surprised so many people.”</p><p>“During the turmoil of my life, the teachers at Nueva Vista helped me through it,” she said.</p><p>Jose Bracamontes, who attends San Antonio High School in Petaluma, was the rare boy graduate Monday.</p><p>No longer with his daughter’s mother, Bracamontes wants to be a bigger part of 2-year-old Arianna’s life, he said. Pursuing his education is part of that plan, he said.</p><p>“I want to be in my baby’s life,” he said. “She’s outgoing but she can get shy at times. She gets scared really easily but she’ll trust you easily if you are with her.”</p><p>For Zamudio, this place in life is not where she thought she would be. But on Monday she said she is satisfied with her life and where it is going.</p><p>“Here I am now, a young mother, a high school graduate with high hopes of continuing school, making my parents proud and being the best mother I can be,” she said.</p><p>News researcher Michele Van Hoeck contributed to this story.</p>