{"id":6665,"date":"2015-07-01T07:35:12","date_gmt":"2015-07-01T07:35:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/?p=6665"},"modified":"2015-07-01T09:19:32","modified_gmt":"2015-07-01T09:19:32","slug":"honorary-diploma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/honorary-diploma","title":{"rendered":"A High School Pays Tribute To Kidnapping Survivors With A Touching Gift"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"a6b39195b99473d6c9dd698db2668010\" data-index=\"1\" style=\"float: none; margin:2px 0 2px 0; text-align:center;\">\n<center>\r\n\r\n<script type='text\/javascript'>\r\nfunction ShorterThan(widthMax) {\r\n                if (screen.width < widthMax) {return true;}  \r\n                else {return false}\r\n    }\r\nvar LimitWidth = 728\r\nvar MobileZoneID = 348996\r\nvar DesktopZoneID = 348995   \r\n<!--\/\/<![CDATA[\r\n   document.MAX_ct0 ='';\r\n   var m3_u = (location.protocol=='https:'?'https:\/\/cas.criteo.com\/delivery\/ajs.php?':'https:\/\/cas.criteo.com\/delivery\/ajs.php?');\r\n   var m3_r = Math.floor(Math.random()*99999999999);\r\n   document.write (\"<scr\"+\"ipt type='text\/javascript' src='\"+m3_u);\r\n   if (ShorterThan(LimitWidth)) {document.write (\"zoneid=\"+MobileZoneID);} else {document.write (\"zoneid=\"+DesktopZoneID);}\r\n   document.write(\"&nodis=1\");\r\n   document.write ('&cb=' + m3_r);\r\n   if (document.MAX_used != ',') document.write (\"&exclude=\" + document.MAX_used);\r\n   document.write (document.charset ? '&charset='+document.charset : (document.characterSet ? '&charset='+document.characterSet : ''));\r\n   document.write (\"&loc=\" + escape(window.location));\r\n   if (document.referrer) document.write (\"&referer=\" + escape(document.referrer));\r\n   if (document.context) document.write (\"&context=\" + escape(document.context));\r\n   if ((typeof(document.MAX_ct0) != 'undefined') && (document.MAX_ct0.substring(0,4) == 'http')) {\r\n       document.write (\"&ct0=\" + escape(document.MAX_ct0));\r\n   }\r\n   if (document.mmm_fo) document.write (\"&mmm_fo=1\");\r\n   document.write (\"'><\/scr\"+\"ipt>\");\r\n\/\/]]>--><\/script>\r\n<\/center>\n<\/div>\n<p>Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesust were kidnapped for ten years and escaped from their abductor, Ariel Castro, two years ago. During their abduction, they were chained, raped, and abused. One day, Castro forgot to lock them inside their rooms, and Berry took advantage of the situation. She escaped by kicking through the front door and called 911. The women were finally free after a decade of confinement. <em>\u201cSometimes, there are days that I just can&#8217;t believe it,\u201d<\/em> Amanda Berry told US magazine People.com. <em>\u201cI just feel like I can&#8217;t believe that this happened to me.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<h2>A Terrible Ordeal<\/h2>\n<p>Berry was a 16-year-old high school student when she was kidnapped. DeJesus was 14 years old and attending middle school. They would have gone to the same high school if they were not tragically abducted.<em> &#8220;He [Castro] was always watching us,&#8221;<\/em> DeJesus described. <em>\u201cBefore the door opened, your heart was just beating real fast. You didn&#8217;t know why he was coming up the stairs or what was going to happen.\u201d<\/em> Castro was sentenced to life in prison and hung himself in his cell. The women have been working hard to complete requirements for their education. They lost a lot of time and were not on track with their classmates. But their school&#8217;s faculty did not want to deny them the opportunity to graduate with their peers. So they let them walk, and the ladies received honorary diplomas.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_6666\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6666\" style=\"width: 700px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-6666\" src=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/07\/nc_amanda_berry_daughter_unblur_ll_130507_wmain.jpg\" alt=\"source\" width=\"700\" height=\"394\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/07\/nc_amanda_berry_daughter_unblur_ll_130507_wmain.jpg 640w, https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/07\/nc_amanda_berry_daughter_unblur_ll_130507_wmain-533x300.jpg 533w, https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/07\/nc_amanda_berry_daughter_unblur_ll_130507_wmain-600x338.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-6666\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en_us\/gma\/us.abcnews.gma.com\/nc_amanda_berry_daughter_unblur_ll_130507_wmain.jpg\">source<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>{adinserter CNP5}<\/p>\n<h2>A cause for celebration<\/h2>\n<p><em>\u201cGraduation is a milestone,\u201d<\/em> the CEO of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District Eric Gordon says. <em>\u201cThe faculty really wanted to give them an experience they really should have been allowed to earn on their own, but because of what happened to them, they didn&#8217;t have that opportunity.\u201d<\/em> He says that as they stood on the stage on a Wednesday afternoon, they received a standing ovation from everyone attending the ceremony: the graduates, faculty and all of the parents and families. <em>\u201cIt was an incredibly moving moment.\u201d<\/em> Berry, who is now 29, and DeJesus, now 25, were surrounded by friends and family members. They all wanted to help the women experience a milestone that they were denied. They were also joined by their attorney and friend James Wooley. <em>\u201cThere were lots of tears, lots of happiness,&#8221;<\/em> Gordon says. <em>\u201cWe treated it like a fun graduation party.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_6667\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6667\" style=\"width: 700px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-6667\" src=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/07\/5247ddf94a133deba14b806708e88fa9.jpg\" alt=\"source\" width=\"700\" height=\"394\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/07\/5247ddf94a133deba14b806708e88fa9.jpg 640w, https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/07\/5247ddf94a133deba14b806708e88fa9-533x300.jpg 533w, https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/07\/5247ddf94a133deba14b806708e88fa9-600x338.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-6667\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/pin\/322359285805388272\/\">source<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3><a href=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/accepted-to-26-schools\">SEE ALSO:\u00a0A High School Student Has Been Accepted To 26 Universities. Wait Until You Hear What She Won.<\/a><\/h3>\n<!--CusAds0-->\n<div style=\"font-size: 0px; height: 0px; line-height: 0px; margin: 0; padding: 0; clear: both;\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesust were kidnapped for ten years and escaped from their abductor,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":6667,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[35],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>A High School Pays Tribute To Kidnapping Survivors With A Touching Gift<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesust were kidnapped for ten years and escaped from their abductor two years ago.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link 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