Parenting Teens Celebrate High School Graduation!

Parenting teens celebrate high school graduation
By ANDREA WOLF/Times-Herald staff writer
Article Launched: 06/06/2008 06:41:44 AM PDT



Tennile Jones, 18, of Vallejo, greets her three-year old daughter, Schlette, 3, at Courtyard Marriott in Fairfield Thursday evening at a teen parent high school graduation ceremony. (Mike Jory/Times-Herald) There were a lot of times in the past three years that 18-year-old Tennille Jones thought she was never going to get that diploma.
After having her daughter when she was only 15, getting through high school was a constant challenge.
"There was a lot of crying and a lot of blood, sweat and tears, especially in the beginning" said Jones, of Fairfield. "But my daughter is the light of my life and I knew I had to graduate for her."
Diploma now in hand, Jones said she is looking forward to starting at Solano Community College with hopes of someday becoming a probation officer.

To recognize the accomplishments of pregnant and parenting teens like Jones who overcame challenges and completed high school, the Shasta-Diablo Planned Parenthood held a graduation celebration Thursday at the Courtyard Marriott in Fairfield.
About 50 teens from Napa and Solano counties dined and danced at a combination graduation and prom night.

"Pregnant and parenting teens often don't get an opportunity to have a graduation or go to prom," said Tracy Nunley, director of communication services for Solano Planned Parenthood.