Teen’s Family Doesn’t Attend Graduation
A graduation is a uniquely important event. It’s an opportunity to celebrate all of the hard work you’ve done to reach an accomplishment, as well as a transition to a new part of your life. But even with all a graduate has achieved, they still need support from friends and family. One teenager found that in a teacher who not only took him out for a meal when his family wasn’t at his graduation but also got him a car. (1)
Dominique Moore is a teacher at Bessemer City High School. Bessemer is a suburb of Birmingham, Alabama. The school was able to hold a graduation ceremony in mid-June 2020 and celebrate all of their graduating seniors. (1)
But after the ceremony was over, Moore noticed that one of his students was still there, sitting alone. He could tell that something was wrong, so he went over to the student and checked in with him. (1)
“I know his moods and I knew he wasn’t himself,‘’ Moore told AL.com. “I asked him, ‘Where are your people?’ and he was like, ‘Nobody’s here.‘’’ (1)
Moore told his student, “I expect big things from you and it’s going to be OK,” and continued cleaning up. But once he and the other teachers were finished with the ceremony cleanup, Moore noticed that the teen was still there. He found out that the graduate didn’t have a way to get home, so Moore offered him a ride. (1)
Teacher Takes Teen to Cheesecake Factory to Celebrate
Wanting to make his student’s day special, Moore offered to take him out for a celebratory meal before dropping him off. The teenager suggested going to get wings, but Moore told him that they should go somewhere special. (1)
In his interview with AL.com, Moore recounted, “He said, ‘How about Cheesecake Factory? I’ve heard about it but I’ve never been.‘’ So the two of them headed to the restaurant, where the brand-new graduate ordered a shrimp basket, fries, and Oreo cheesecake, a first for the teen. He kept his graduation cap on while enjoying the meal with his former teacher. (1)
Moore also graduated from Bessemer City High School and struggled to keep his cool at the restaurant. “Man, I couldn’t imagine graduating high school and my folks not being there,” he said. But Moore didn’t press the student for details about why his family wasn’t at his graduation. “I didn’t care,” Moore said. “At that moment, I just wanted to celebrate him. It was an amazing time.” (1)
Thousands Raised to Buy Car for Graduate
Moore learned that his former student was starting a job at Amazon that day but that he didn’t have a car to get there. So he drove the teen to work and later picked him up. But he wanted to find a longer-term solution for the young man, so Moore decided to reach out to his network on Facebook for help. “These situations are common to me and I handle them on my own,” Moore said. “You don’t always have to show everybody or tell everybody when you do something but this one just didn’t sit well with me. I don’t know what it was.” (1)
Moore added his Cash App account to the Facebook post, and people quickly responded to support the teen. Soon, people had donated more than $5,000 to help him get set up. (1, 2)
After picking him up from work one day, Moore took his former student to the bank to open a checking account. The donated money will be used to purchase a reliable car for the young man. He hopes to save enough money to attend college one day. (1)
Both Moore and the graduating student have been amazed by how generous people have been, especially during what is a challenging time for so many. “We take people and life for granted,” Moore said. “Even though we have bad, in this moment it shows that mankind is good.” (1)
