SOMERSET, NJ - As the school year comes to an end our Franklin Middle School and High School students enjoy their commencement ceremonies, we want to highlight the end-of-year celebration of an amazing program at Franklin: Road to Success.
The Road to Success program is a dynamic program for Franklin students in grades 7-12 who have at-risk influences in their lives. The program held its annual end-of-year celebration on June 11th, 2024, with guest speakers, an awards ceremony, and delicious food made by RTS volunteers. RTS students were allowed to celebrate their successes with family and friends and learn who would be coined a graduation candidate for both middle school and high school.
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The program began with Superintendent Ravally giving a speech, thanking Franklin High School and Middle School teachers for “working two full days to serve students”. Following this, the Vice Principal of the program, Nikki Tatum introduced two keynote speakers: Carlton Agudosi and Darris Adderly Stanton.
Agudosi, a Franklin alumni and current wide receiver for the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League imparted his everlasting wisdom to RTS students, faculty, and families. Agudosi encouraged students to surround themselves with people who motivate them and remember who they are; to embrace their path. He shared his story of hardship as he struggled to keep up with his studies in Franklin and only succeeded when he obtained mentors and allowed prospective college coaches to help him do better. A former RTS participant, he gave students hope for a bright and prosperous future. At the end of his speech, Agudosi left students with a lasting thought: “Everybody wins their own race”.
Following Agudosi was Darris Adderly Stanton, a behavioralist from Newark Public Schools. In his job as a behavioralist, Stanton helps students stay grounded when they are faced with hardship. In his speech, he spoke primarily about fear, its many meanings, and the way it can manifest itself into success. Stanton said, “Fear is the belief that something is stopping you from taking a step forward academically or socially”. He preached the importance of a growth mindset and echoed the sentiment of Agudosi by encouraging students to gain wisdom from those around them and encourage one another to achieve their dreams. To wrap up his speech, Stanton left students with a question to think about: “Will you let fear limit you or liberate you?”.
The program then entered a happy ending as students were awarded for their immense accomplishments on their roads to success. RTS’s new “Full Year Drone Program” awarded many students honorable achievement awards for completing 90-100% of the modules in learning and facilitating the building of drones. RTS senior Andy Velasco was awarded the Drone Tech Navigating Oustanding Performace Award for his notable achievement in building, coding, and flying drones. Along with this, students were awarded multi-media, sociology, and musical achievement awards. The final award–the FTSAA RTS scholarship for graduating seniors–was awarded to Scarlin Reyes, Andy Velasco, Charles Ortiz, and Zanay Williams.
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In his closing remarks, Dr.Nicholas Solomon, principal of Franklin High School expressed his pride in RTS students by saying, “I have no doubt all of you will do amazing things in your future.”
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