An increasingly popular option among U.S. students of today is the gap year: a brief break from the early-life academic grind to gain some form of experiential learning, like working a job or traveling the world, before starting or continuing their college studies.
Barstow resident Kay Whitecloud did something like that in 1957. It wasn’t meant to be just a year or so when she left high school to start a family, but she promised her father at the time that she would return to finish the job one day.
Now, more than 60 years later, the 83-year-old Native American of the Laguna Pueblo tribe has fulfilled that promise.
“He’s been gone for 34 years, and I wanted this for my dad,” she says.
“He’s been gone for 34 years, and I wanted this for my dad,” says longtime Barstow local Kay Whitecloud, who is now a high school graduate at the age of 83.
“He’s been gone for 34 years, and I wanted this for my dad,” says longtime Barstow local Kay Whitecloud, who is now a high school graduate at the age of 83.
Whitecloud accepted her long-awaited high school diploma this past Saturday at a graduation ceremony for the latest “senior class” of Barstow Adult Education, a program for adult learners run by Barstow Community College, Barstow Unified School District, Baker Valley Unified School District, and Silver Valley Unified School District —collectively known as the Barstow Area Consortium for Adult Education, covering the areas in and around its namesake city, Baker and Fort Irwin.
After so many years away from the textbooks, and a dense accumulation of post-youth life, Whitecloud says it wasn’t always easy to complete the final 13 units of coursework she needed to finish where she left off when President Dwight D. Eisenhower was only halfway through his term in the White House.
But she says personal determination willed her to success, something she hopes inspires others of all ages.
“If I can do it, you can,” Whitecloud said in a BUSD news release. “Just go after it!”
The longtime Barstownian has a strong community presence. Local artist Nicole Monae painted a mural dedicated to Whitecloud more than seven years ago on the art-heavy brick walls of downtown Barstow. She was also one of the highlighted attendants of the Riverside-San Bernardino County Indian Health’s Native Challenge when it came to Barstow in 2008.
“He’s been gone for 34 years, and I wanted this for my dad,” says longtime Barstow local Kay Whitecloud, who is now a high school graduate at the age of 83.
“He’s been gone for 34 years, and I wanted this for my dad,” says longtime Barstow local Kay Whitecloud, who is now a high school graduate at the age of 83.
Michelle Colleoc, a BCC counselor and director of the adult-education program, got a personal thanks from Whitecloud, according to the release.
Colleoc said the octagenarian “is a true example (that) it is never too late to earn your high school diploma or GED,” and that she hopes people will be inspired to enroll in the in-person, online, or hybrid instruction offerings of Barstow Adult Education.
“The only impossible journey is the one you never begin,” Colleoc said, citing a quote from Tony Robbins, a self-help guru for seminar crowds and high-profile individuals like Salesforce.com Inc. CEO Marc Benioff.
