Chantel Coleman. Photo: Gail Burnett
By Gail Burnett
Graduation will be a family affair for Chantel Coleman, the featured speaker at Sanford Community Adult Education’s ceremony on June 10.
Also part of the class of 2026 will be her husband Anthony, who’s finishing up his last few credits toward graduation. Supporting her in the audience will be her father Ross Gross, who earned his own GED years ago, and her daughter Sabrina, age 13. Her brother Jake, who earned his diploma from SCAE last year, will likely be there too.
Coleman, 32, has no doubt that one other person will be there in spirit. That’s her mother Elizabeth Gross, who died of lung cancer in 2019. “I should have done this when my mom was around,” she said. But back then, Coleman was a busy caregiver for both her mom and her daughter.
Taking care of other people has always come naturally to Coleman, who these days helps her father deal with health challenges.
But about a year ago, her family asked her to do something new and take care of herself by going back to school. She had stopped in the 10th grade after years of bullying (it wasn’t easy having the last name Gross, she says) and coping with a learning disability. She decided to give it a try.
She enjoyed science and survived math, where instructor David Ramsay “had more patience with me than I had with myself,” she said. Language arts was a bit easier, but her teacher Sue Zimmer, who’s also academic adviser for the program, had to talk her out of giving up when the going got tough. “She’s seen me at my worst,” she said.
It’s not surprising that Coleman has chosen nursing as her career goal. “When I was taking care of my mom, it made me realize that’s what I want to become,” she said. She’s been accepted to the pre-nursing program at York County Community College.
She’ll take it a step at a time, just as she did with her courses at SCAE.
Coleman’s perseverance has impressed the adult education staff. “No matter the challenges she has faced,” Director Jayne Perkins said, “she continues to push forward with determination and grace.”
“She came to the school and brought her whole family along with her,” said Zimmer. “Her husband, her nephew, his girlfriend – they all followed in her footsteps and have now finished or are finishing their diplomas.”
Coleman’s advice to others is to do as she and her family have done “because at the end, it will be worth it.”
A total of 28 high school diplomas will be awarded at SCAE’s graduation at 6 p.m. on June 10 in the library at the school, 668 Main St. (formerly the Willard School). The public is welcome.
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