Ceremony honors Dynamy graduates.

Byline: Ashley Bishop

WORCESTER - Cesar Burgos never thought he would attend college, but the Doherty Memorial High School senior will be a student at Suffolk University in the fall - an accomplishment he attributes to his involvement in the Dynamy Youth Academy.

"If I wasn't a part of this program, I would probably be at home sleeping right now," said Mr. Burgos, who is looking to pursue a career in art. "I wouldn't have known anything about college."

Mr. Burgos was one of 10 high school seniors to graduate from the academy this year. They were honored yesterday during a ceremony at Clark University's Higgins University Center.

The Youth Academy is a four-year leadership and college access program for students from the Worcester public schools whose life circumstances might otherwise limit them from reaching their academic goals. They are chosen to attend the academy by their eighth-grade teachers, and over the four years take part in volunteer work, wilderness adventures, leadership building and internships.

"It has been a long road from eighth grade to now for these students," said Fred Kaelin, the interim executive director of the academy. "Their accomplishments were achieved through perseverance over the past four years."

Katelyn Gleason Klapper, the college counseling consultant at the academy and keynote speaker during last night's ceremony, said "the ultimate success of the students can be seen in their list of college acceptances."

The 10 seniors earned acceptances to WPI, Penn State University, Merrimack College and Assumption College, among others.

The

ceremony was the second celebrated by Dynamy in a

week. On Saturday, it recognized 21 students who completed an internship there, during a ceremony at the College of the Holy Cross' Hogan Campus Center.

The yearlong program provides college-age students who might be in a transitional stage between high school and college with work experience through internships at local businesses and organizations.

The 21 students from around the country completed more than 900 hours of service in the Worcester community and will move on to various colleges and universities nationwide.

DYNAMY CLASS OF 2007

Lorna Andino, Brittney Brooks, Cesar Burgos, Jessica Gain, Martin Gjoni, Janily Lopez, Sonia Miranda, William Paige, Michael Riggieri and Fatima Rivera

Internship Year Graduates

Elaine Barr, Adam Burns, Joshua Cooley, Lianna Davies, Mario Diego Espinosa, Matthew Forcella, Evan Gannon, Tara Greenwald, Devin Kerrigan, Michael Lanman, Adam Lefkowitz, Zak Lindgren, Laura Menzie, Elizabeth Mitchell, Katherine Mock, Antonina Palisano, Gregory Purdy, Blake Raphael, Samuel Shapiro, David Thompson and Michaela Twarog.

Dynamy also honored internship sponsors Tim O'Rourke of T&M Services, Casey Burns and Julius Jones of the Regional Environmental Council as Inspirational Sponsors, and Jennifer Grantham of WCCA-TV as the 2007 Sponsor of the Year.