(bright music) - Today marks a truly historic occasion, for we, the seniors of the class of 2023, are the inaugural graduating class of The School at Marygrove.

The hard work, dedication, perseverance, craftsmanship, integrity, social responsibility and empathy we have demonstrated, has led us to this very moment and we should take immense pride in our achievements.

(bright music) - Like coming in here every day, it's amazing.

Like I'm proud to like come here with my parents or like have friends come and see the campus.

They think it's a college deal, No it's a high school.

- Marygrove is a community.

You're like a little like, say, it is like I'm a little kid and this school is a little kid 'cause it just came up.

You'll watch it grow, you'll grow with the school and you'll grow with the community.

- Everybody knows each other's name, we're familiar with each other.

So I like that aspect about Marygrove.

Firstly, my dad heard it over radio and he heard that University of Michigan is actually gonna be on site on campus.

So that was the real attraction of being at Marygrove.

So my dad saw it as a good opportunity for me to grow, but in a controlled environment, in a smaller environment.

- What led me to Marygrove was knowing that it is only one class.

So I get the attention I needed and the support I needed to grow academically.

I grew a lot of my academics coming to Marygrove and I knew it was a partnership with U of M, so I'm like, okay, it has a college connection.

It's setting this foundation, it has the plan, it can lead me to wherever I want go.

- My mom wanted us here, oh and us is me and my twin brother, but she wanted us here extremely bad.

It was like no choice, go, but I didn't mind coming here.

I know every time she get a chance and like a conversation with someone, it's "oh, they the inaugural class," she loves using that.

- I saw it as like a new opportunity.

I knew that it was a college at first and they were transitioning to high school and I seen that the focus was social justice, and I'm like, like I want to make change, I wanna be a change maker in my lifetime and I want to like work to help others.

So for my school foundation to be based around social justice, it really like brought me in and for it to be a new experience is where I love trying new things.

- The majority of the students are from the city of Detroit.

So we have an examination process where they have to take an exam in order to qualify to be admitted into the school.

So we look at the examination, we look at their grades, we look at citizenship.

And if they are a current student in the district, they get 10 points for that.

If they live in our catchment area within a two mile radius, they get an additional 10 points for that.

So I think the goal for this school was to be a community based school, but offer things that other schools don't offer like project based learning, social justice focus, and then the engineering and STEM.

So they live in this community.

They are products of this environment, but when they all come here, they all come here for one thing, one goal.

So we don't look at all those other factors, we look at the student as a whole and what they have to bring and what they wanna learn and what they can contribute to our community.

- For over 90 years, Marygrove College has served with excellence in education and serve the city of Detroit.

It is with great pride that this tradition continues through the School at Marygrove.

Part of the Detroit Public Schools and the conservancy.

Four years ago, many of you took a risk coming to a new endeavor.

We are pleased to congratulate you today.

You have carried on the tradition of the IHM sisters and Marygrove College through the development of critical thinking skills and social justice.

- It is called the Detroit P20 partnership and it's colon a Marygrove learning community.

And what we mean by P20 is actually prenatal.

So at Starfish Family Services, another partner, and they run the Early Education Center, the Marygrove Early Education Center, they actually have nurse practitioners working with expecting parents at 26 weeks of pregnancy to help them start thinking about what will make your child's life really healthy and full and rich?

And then at six weeks the children can enter the early ed center and they can go all the way through 12th grade, and potentially, if admitted to our new program, which is called learning, equity and problem solving for the public good, they can actually enroll at Michigan.

And several of the young people who graduated tonight are actually going to the University of Michigan as well.

And everything is meant to be vertically aligned.

So the teachers of the younger children know where their children are going and the teachers of the older children know from when they came.

- They're pioneers, they're the founders, they are the beginning of what is going to be a great and awesome educational experience for our students in Detroit.

We were a part of like everything that was first, like first people in the gym, first people to see the lunchroom, first people to graduate.

That's probably what we most looking forward to.

And then it was a lot of trial and error with figuring out like what should the building look like itself.

So we did have a lot of construction, but we get to see like literally the school from the ground up.

Like the lounges that's on every floor, we got to do that.

We actually came up with that idea in our engineering class and then it was implemented into the building.

- It was kind of fun to be the only ones and kind of build it from the beginning.

It was interesting 'cause it was definitely different from my other friend's high school experiences, where they had people above them.

But being able to give an input first year and see it happening throughout the last couple years has been pretty fun.

- So we get the input and we get a say so on what we want on our campus and how we can better the campus around us.

We designed some of the stuff for the elementary, like what can we see in the elementary, what should the library look like?

- We do work that is project and place-based.

Research tells us that this is the best kind of curriculum for children because they're engaged.

They are engaged in inquiry, they're solving problems that are real and in their world, that's the place-based part of it, and they can learn more and produce all the kinds of standard achievement metrics that we value or that at least some people value in our society.

So we know this is the best curriculum, but it's actually really hard to develop it and to enact it.

And so we are doing that in partnership with the district and with the teachers at The School at Marygrove.

Those founding teachers you saw on the stage, they were the initial folks helping to develop this curriculum and now we have a whole new set of teachers alongside them working with us to do that work and it's just incredibly exciting.

- I like that we are project-based learning, so we don't have, I mean we do have tests, but the majority of the stuff that we're doing is just big either research projects or big papers and our grades mostly come from those projects.

- Learning can just be lecture, we just do this, but it actually gives you the hand on experience and actually gets you involved in what you're thinking and thinking out the box and how can you actually better your community.

Like okay, you learned this, what's the next step?

What can we do to help those around us?

What can we do to better the things?

We're not just learning and taking all this information and going on to the next thing.

We're learning and seeing how we can adapt it to our environment and help those around us, which is what I think is a very important trait to have learning something and know how to apply it in the real world and apply it to those around you.

- A social justice based school is a school that empowers students to have a voice and to impact change in the community, to problem solve, to be a catalyst for change, to stand up for justice, to make sure that they are looking out for those that are marginalized or underprivileged or those who cannot speak for themselves and giving those students a voice that they can stand strong, they can stand tall and they could be the change that that we wanna see in this world and in our communities.

- I would say Marygrove really focuses on the student voice.

I would say that's the social justice aspect of the school.

What we have many protests, walkouts, whatnot, and the the teachers support us behind that.

There's no like discipline action done to us for you know, just speaking out against those things that we don't see as fit for the school and it's really about choice.

They had dress code for the school like around our 10th grade, 10th grade year, 11th grade year.

And we had a huge pushback against that because people wanna represent themselves, express themselves how they want to through clothing.

So we got that changed.

- The engineering to me is like just trying to like be creative, kind of come up with like creative solutions to social justice.

I feel like they're like interconnected so I feel like the engineering correlates to the social justice.

So if we can like engineer and like create certain solutions to these like social justice issues then we'll be able to like accomplish our goal of just being like a social justice based school.

So I just believe that those are like two perfect like standards to set and like, because like they combine so well to like try to get our like overall goal of just being change makers.

- We're looking at different problems in the community and I guess just overall and trying to think of ways to fix them or how we can help them.

So we make a problem statement and then keep asking why to get to the root of the problem and then create something to fix it.

And we kind of do that in all of our classes regardless if it's engineering or not.

- We want to take this time to tell you all how immensely proud of you we are in this moment.

When TSM was merely an idea, we envisioned a place where education would transcend traditional boundaries.

We set out on a journey to create a safe haven of learning.

A place where critical thinking and community mindedness would flourish.

A place where joy and community were just as important, if not more than formulas and essays, where we would prepare students to not just enter the world but to change it profoundly.

Now as we witness your journey culminate in this moment, we are filled with a deep sense of fulfillment and pride.

It has been an honor to have been your teachers and fellow founders.

- The founder teachers were amazing.

I will always give them their credit, because when I came here I felt like I was just like learning at such a like fast pace and still now, I felt like I learned plenty of things from 'em.

They taught so well and they all had different styles too that we had to adapt to.

So I feel like it would definitely build me up for college.

- I think they were important because they too were going through like trial and error, but since they were the adults in the room, like they couldn't really show how they felt all the time.

So they would just kind of be like, yo, it's okay.

But like they basically had to put the kids first.

So I think that's definitely what makes them stand out to me.

They did a lot.

The founding teachers, they were very involved.

They're still involved in all their little babies.

They call us our little babies.

They're involved in everything that we do.

Not like, like I said, it was close knit.

Like it's only 96 of us.

The classes were small, we were all in one hallway so we saw everybody face every day, every hour.

Most of our teachers we saw more than once a day and they actually put in an effort to make sure that they were learning with us.

Which is the biggest thing.

Like I'm your teacher and I'm teaching you but I'm learning with you guys.

Like I'm learning how we should work.

I'm learning what we should hold accountable to ourselves and those around us.

You could tell like the teachers really love us.

Like they really push and they advocate for us.

They advocate for their students, which is a big thing.

Having teachers and staff that can advocate for us and want better for us being in a predominantly black neighborhood and just being a Detroit public school.

'Cause they tell us like, you deserve this.

Like you deserve the right to an education.

You deserve the right to everything that everybody else has and you deserve it.

We're gonna fight for it and we want you to know that you deserve it and they want you to fight for it.

- Sometimes your failures are going to be a stepping stone to success.

Life may not be linear, but you have to stay the course, work hard, have that resolved within you and don't let anybody tell you what you can and cannot do in a good way.

Follow the laws though.

(soft music) - I think it's important that we start with the teaching students value systems in schools.

Sometimes when they are not being taught at home, they come to school and we expect them to have these values and sometimes they don't.

And so it's up to us to kind of instill in them what those values mean, what those ideals mean, and what it looks like and what it feels like.

And so I think it's important that we have them because it shapes who they are and who they can become.

- I think it's to get us on the same page.

Like usually when you go to schools they have rules but instead of giving rules of like don't do this, don't do that.

They telling you what you should be doing.

And then, I know for my freshman year they like drilled that into us basically with advisory.

We had like a little packet that we had to fill out every week and we had to explain a core value that we did.

What did we do to show that.

We also had weekly assemblies.

And then at the assemblies they'll shout somebody out for upholding that core value.

- The school leans on all its personal values, craftsmanship, integrity, perseverance, social responsibility, which is the main one to me.

And coming here you got that feel of social justice.

We were not only, in our core classes as well, we were not only just doing work and doing projects, our projects, our work, it was really project based and it led to some type of change.

- The students this year tackled our water issues in the school and it evoked a change, right?

So the district decided to bring in their team of experts to test the water.

It opened the students up to one, I saw a problem.

I figured out how to address it.

But then they brought in the experts to kind of explain to them this is what needed to happen.

So now they all learn something new and they now feel empowered to do something in the future to change whatever the situation is.

So that's one of the things that I love about the school and I love about the students.

They know how to fight for what's right and fight for what they believe in and stand up for what they believe in and push all the boundaries so that they can be heard and seen and understood and accepted.

- Today is a testament to what happens when partners across this city come together to make a dream come true.

As in Marygrove.

I would also like to thank the parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and support system who believed in the vision and continued to support the mission.

Your students made it to the finish line.

Thank you.

- They took a chance on a brand new school, Detroit Public School's Community District, the Marygrove Conservancy and the University of Michigan Marcel Family School of Education partnered together to build this school.

So it was a risk, right?

To join a school that had not been tested.

And then we had a pandemic, so they made it through all of that.

So the emotion is deep and they are really proud of themselves and we're really proud to be associated with these amazing young people.

One of my favorite anecdotes was the day the early ed center opened and a dad, really tall dad walked in with his little three year old and he stopped him and he said look up there.

And pointed to what was then the liberal arts building that's the high school and middle school now and said that's where you'll go someday.

Super exciting to have that as a goal.

- How I understand pioneers is that we've built this school ground up and we're kind of passing on the baton to the other classes.

11th graders, they may not carry the same culture that we know, but I'm sure they're gonna build this school better than we have and they can learn from our mistakes.

And then that's just the progression of Marygrove.

- It makes me feel like I have a lot to leave behind, basically.

It's like I need to have like a big example.

- We're like a tight-knit circle.

Like just with the founding class, like just seeing the impact that you have on your peers around you and the underclassmen, how they take some of the things that we do and remix it and how they try to come in and be like, "Hey can we work with you guys?

Can y'all help us with this?

Can we collaborate on this?"

And especially with the teachers, 'cause the teachers they use most of our work from the years on and they have us like, how can we improve this for the next class?

So just having like that, just the say so like we said, like having the chance to help and have our voices heard.

Like that's just the main thing.

- I do see us as pioneers because like when we first came we were the only class like and it was only like, I believe a hundred something of us.

We were going down the halls and it felt like so community based 'cause it was like so little of us and we had like a pretty big space.

And now seeing now like it's like a whole full class of freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors.

So like it's cool to like interact with them and everything and speak to them and get to know them and I can't wait for 'em to continue to build it until the kindergarten to 12th grade as well.

- I don't know, it's kind of surreal.

'Cause we weren't actually in school all four years.

We were virtual for two years.

So it didn't really hit that we were the first class until we came back 11th grade year.

But it's a lot of like just perseverance, persevering through everything.

Like not having like a full high school and having people that you lean on from other classes.

We were community.

We leaned on each other, we helped each other out.

Like we all just persevered and, it was trial and error through everything we did.

Like we were here for each other.

Like we are a family.

- Man, I feel so energized and just happy like these past four years were like amazing.

It kind of like really built me as a person overall and for this to be like the final day.

It's like a lot of memories, emotions flowing through my mind.

We just came from Cedar the point yesterday and on the bus drive back home, I was just like just thinking like the first day, like you mentioned, like the second days, like the weeks, the months, like all the time interviews I was just thinking of it, was just crossing my mind, of all that time that passed so quickly, it felt like, but for us to finally be graduating it feels amazing and I just enjoyed the ride with all my friends and everything.

It's very enjoyable.

A very enjoyable experience.

(soft music) - My name is Anna Tebow.

I'm a senior at school at Marygrove.

We're graduating at the music hall in downtown Detroit.

- It took like all of us just working together, working hard, putting our best foot forward always trying to get our assignments done on time.

And that got us here.

- And then everybody is just like, they was hugging and we all, I know we gonna be like dramatic at the end.

So right now everybody's just keeping their composure and we saying hey, but when it's time to say goodbye, I already know that's all gonna change.

- There's a special bond because they're the first.

They came in as as ninth graders with no upperclassmen.

And so they've kind of led this I'll call experiment the whole way, right?

So they didn't have any examples, they had no role models, they didn't know what seniors were supposed to do.

They didn't know about senior dues, they didn't know.

So they learned together every step of the way and I'm so proud of them.

I really am.

- One of a kind.

You not gonna find no school like this anywhere.

It's a family.

These ain't just some kids that chose to just go to school together or we was sports here.

We loved each other.

It's a family.

- It took a lot of work.

I feel like my mom too and sorry, today is kind of weird.

Like my father passed on May 31st, 10 years ago.

So it's kind of hard to be here 'cause now I feel like everything is like coming hitting me all at once.

It's like, oh, like I'm sad.

And now I'm like, I'm graduating on this day and now I feel like, I feel like I could've tried harder.

Like Grace was good at everything.

But I feel like if I knew that I was gonna graduate on this day, I would've pushed even harder.

- Reflecting on our journey, it is awe inspiring to stand here in this moment alongside all of you.

Merely a few months ago, this achievement may have seemed improbable.

Our path to this stage was far from easy.

As we face a series of global events that left us uncertain, whether we could ever come together in unity like this.

We were confronted with social and societal limitations.

What left us with a sense of hopelessness.

However, it was through these hardships, sacrifices, and the looming uncertainty that we discovered more about ourselves and our individual strengths.

(people cheering) - So my next plans are to go to Wayne State University to major in marketing, so that I can become a social media manager.

- I'm going to Delaware State University studying criminal justice and psychology.

I plan to go to the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor majoring in electrical engineering.

- I am going to U of M I'll be part of the LSA summer program.

I wanna study psychology and computer science maybe go into AI development.

- I'm actually going to this Core World program and it's to pharmacy techs.

- I see myself finishing up getting my bachelor's in science.

I wanna be a pediatric nurse practitioner, so I wanna go back to school for graduate and get my master's in nursing.

I will be attending Wayne State this fall.

(people cheering) - All right.

Will the class of 2023 please stand.

(people cheering) Alright, here we go.

On behalf of the Detroit Public Schools' Community District Board of Education, our superintendent, Dr. Nikolai Vitti, the faculty and staff at the school at Marygrove, will the class of 2023 please turn your tassels from right to left.

(people cheering) It's with great honor that I now officially pronounce and congratulate the class of 2023 as the first graduates of the school at Marygrove High School.

(soft music) - The energy is amazing.

The crowd is just so excited for their graduates.

The graduates seem so hopeful and excited about their future and it's really amazing to see.

- Those values, the values that our commencement speaker talked about that are on the walls at the school at Marygrove that the founding teachers and the students crafted together, those values stay true to them, values like integrity, values like perseverance, values like social responsibility, stay true to those.

Follow the path you want to follow and take those risks and don't see failure as failure.

- We made history tonight on so many levels and I'm so proud and I'm so happy and I can't wait to go home and just pass out from exhaustion, but excitement and just so many things.

I'm full of emotion right now.

(soft music continues)