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Juvenile center holds first-ever graduation ceremony for incarcerated youth

Jose Cardona-Perez is seen at his graduation ceremony on Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025, at the Tulsa County Family Center for Juvenile Justice.
Tulsa County
/
Courtesy
Jose Cardona-Perez is seen at his graduation ceremony on Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025, at the Tulsa County Family Center for Juvenile Justice.

For the first time ever, Tulsa County Family Center for Juvenile Justice celebrated an incarcerated youth graduating from high school.

Jose Cardona-Perez got his diploma from Tulsa Public Schools Thursday through the district’s partnership with the detention center. He was surrounded by his family, his instructor and TPS officials at his graduation ceremony.

“I put in the work. I went to class every day, every weekday,” Cardona-Perez said after his ceremony.

It’s unclear when Cardona-Perez will get out of the detention center, but he said he wants to become a collision repair mechanic when he is released.

To graduate at the detention center, a youth must complete all state GED requirements while incarcerated. Some students don’t graduate at the center because they get out before that’s possible.

Still, instructor Paul Sunday called Cardona-Perez “a model student.”

“I watched him every day come down the hall, and he kind of knew what he had to do, and he just completed each course by each quiz,” Sunday said.

Detention Center Director David Parker had high praise for Cardona-Perez as well.

“If you asked me to list off the kids who do the right things every day, I would list Jose right up at the top of that,” Parker said.

Max Bryan is a news anchor and reporter for KWGS. A Tulsa native, Bryan worked at newspapers throughout Arkansas and in Norman before coming home to "the most underrated city in America." Several of Bryan's news stories have either led to or been cited in changes both in the public and private sectors.