Anne Arundel County’s Evening High School’s largest graduation class offers lessons in persistence

Superintendent of Anne Arundel County Public Schools Mark Bedell and several county school board members attended the Evening High School graduation Thursday at Severna Park High School.

“It doesn’t matter what path you travel, the question is were you able to navigate that path to get to the end goal of getting your high school diploma,” he said during his speech.

Bedell went on to reference that at his interview to become the county superintendent, he was never asked how long it took him to finish high school. Instead they wanted to know if he had the skillset to get the job done.

Since its establishment 56 years ago, 3,988 students have graduated from Anne Arundel Evening High School, an alternative to day time school. Evening students often are working, taking care of family or have life circumstances that make day school difficult.

Tyrielle Noel, 21, who attended Evening High on North County High Schools’ campus, was able to finish school after having two children. All together, she was in school for seven years but remained persistent.

“I got pregnant my senior year of high school, and then Covid happened so I just stopped that year,” she said. “Then in 2023-24 I came back. Finishing school, to me, means that I can be successful in other areas.”

Noel wants to work at a hospital and believes getting her diploma was the last thing standing in her way. A mother of a four-year-old and a four-month-old, she enjoys being able to show her children her successes.

“This is something that I know will open up my next path in life.”

“You don’t necessarily have to be on a traditional, comprehensive high school path in order to be able to obtain your high school diploma,” Bedell said.

Evening High School has six campuses — Annapolis, Glen Burnie, Meade, North County, Severna Park, and South River — at high schools around the county with classes Monday through Thursday from 4:15 p.m. to 9 p.m.

For Aden Narock,18, and a graduate from the Severna Park campus, school in the evening simply worked better for him. He originally attended Chesapeake Science Point High School in Hanover but said things didn’t work out after having issues with classmates. At Arundel High School, he struggled to get to school in the mornings.

“I talked to my parents, I talked to a therapist and we figured out that evening high school was the best option for me,” he said. “Mainly the difference was that it was in the afternoon and easier for me to get up on time. For whatever reason, based on my personal sleep schedule, getting up at six or seven in the morning just doesn’t work for me.”

After finishing Evening High School, he will be studying mechanical engineering at York College in Pennsylvania.

“It’s not too far away, but it’ll still be far enough away that I’ll feel like I’m on my own,” he said with a grin. “But if I do need to, I can always come back.”

This gradating class of 125 is the largest in the school’s 56 year history, said Bedell.

“Watch your thoughts, they become words. Watch your words they become action. Watch your actions, they become habits. Watch your habits, they become character. Watch your character because it will almost certainly become your destiny,” Bedell said near the end of his speech.