ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, June 15, 1996 TAG: 9606170088
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JON CAWLEY STAFF WRITER
STUDENTS of the Total Action Against Poverty program will graduate Friday from programs designed to help prepare them for obstacles in the workplace.
This was no ordinary prom. The location was the Henry Street Center, and Duke Ellington was there to spin the tunes and encourage everyone in the "Soul Train line" to "Do what you like to do."
This Duke Ellington - the WTOY-AM disc jockey, not the jazz pioneer - played music ranging from jazz to rap. There was much dancing, laughing and celebrating among the participants - with good reason.
The Total Action Against Poverty students will graduate Friday from the literacy, General Educational Development, custom training, entrepreneurial training, loan pool training, group job search and work experience programs. Their ceremony will be held at First Baptist Church on North Jefferson Street.
"This is a celebration for folks who never had a chance to go to a prom," said Tara Hawkins, work experience coordinator for TAP employment training services.
"Tonight is special. ... I get a chance to see what it's like to be at a prom. They went all out; it's beautiful, and a nice DJ, that just tops it off," GED graduate Robbie Crenshaw, 34, said.
Two GED students, Tammy Wright and Kelly Sinclair, came up with the notion of having a prom.
"It was a lot of work. All the staff helped," GED instructor Salena Morton said, while making sure the food was set up and ready.
Kim Sowers, 27, came in for about four hours Friday to arrange tables.
"This is unusual for me. It's a big deal, because I didn't graduate from high school. I felt like I was on a decorating committee for some high school," she said.
Sowers is graduating from the custom training program with a clerical diploma and assists Hawkins. She hopes to obtain a secretarial position and go back to school for computer science or accounting.
A former Army MP, Michele Wickware, 35, of Los Angeles, ran errands as well as typing up invitations and sending them out.
"Tonight's going to be more work than fun," she said.
Celebrants began to roll in around 7 p.m. Some were dressed up; one man wore a tuxedo. Most were dressed nicely but casually. Some children came, too. Graduates were allowed to bring their children, because many don't have baby sitters.
Everyone ate from a spread of fried chicken, rolls, potato salad, cake, lemonade and iced tea before giving up their tables for the dance floor.
One of the evening's highlights was when Diana Fravel, 30, a work experience graduate, took center stage to sing "Some Day," a song she wrote for the event.
Fravel won a scholarship to the Mill Mountain drama camp, an eight-week program that she hopes will improve her stage performance.
Edward Muse, 35, one of only two men in the TAP programs, works for the Roanoke Parks and Grounds Department every day and comes in for the GED program on his days off.
The class "was fun and interesting. The teacher has a lot of patience; she gets all the respect."
Respect seemed to be another theme of the evening.
"TAP gives women an incentive, shows that people care. Situations and circumstances happen, and there is someone there to see that they succeed in life," said Gloria Hash, 33, an entrepreneurial and employment training graduate.
Annette Lewis, director of the TAP employment training service, came to share in the celebration.
"I'm real proud of the fact that many people have overcome a lot of obstacles and barriers. This is a first step to many more successes," she said.
The TAP programs have been in existence for 31 years with an 87 percent graduation rate. Lewis hopes to have another celebration next year if the funding is available.
LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: DON PETERSEN/Staff. Diana Fravel gets an ovation fromby CNBher fellow graduates of the Total Action Against Poverty program
after singing a song she wrote especially for them at their prom.