When Brandywine Community Schools Supt. John Jarpe told those in the graduating class of 2011 they were his champions Sunday during commencement, his words came as a testament to the hard work each one of the seniors had exhibited.

Hard work that resulted in a 100 percent graduating class.

Jarpe told the packed gymnasium that each year comes with those students struggling to make it through high school, to walk the ceremonious walk for their diploma with their peers. Sometimes, they don’t make it. But this year was different.

“One hundred percent of you did it,” Jarpe said to applause.

Included in that 100 percent is Nicholas Smith.

The Brandywine graduate not only fulfilled his goal of walking with his classmates during commencement, but he was also the recipient of an iPad 2, a gift from Michigan Department of Education Supt. Mike Flanagan.

Flanagan announced the Dropout Prevention Challenge, which urged districts statewide to review and develop programs aimed at keeping kids in school.

Through the challenge, Brandywine guidance counselor Angie Roeder said students could also be nominated for their hard work as well as those who “inspired (staff and administration) or stayed in school despite the odds against them.”

Brandywine has a multi-faceted program at the high school to help students who are either falling behind or not achieving the credits required to graduate.

Those students receive help through a credit recovery program that includes online courses, summer school and specialized support classes much like study hall. They can also test out of certain classes if the option applies, and while online courses allow for the convenience of getting the work done at home, all tests must be taken on school property so administrators know it’s the students who are doing the work.

“The teachers in those clases are really supportive,” Roeder said, by monitoring grades, checking missing assignments and keeping up with students on their progress.

For those considered “at risk” for dropping out of school, Roeder said the challenges can involve getting behind and feeling too overwhelmed to continue.

“That’s when we lose them,” she said.

Kids rarely get behind due to illness, but it happens, Roeder said. When attendance is poor, she said that’s another sign that something could be going on at home; students are needed to watch younger siblings or help out. Other times, the student may simply lack motivation.

That’s when Roeder goes into action, developing weekly contact with students and contacting parents.

Through the credit recovery program, students can redeem themselves and build a little confidence along the way. The program has been in effect for two years and Roeder said its effectiveness is evident in Sunday’s graduation ceremony. According to Roeder, there were 12 seniors who could have found themselves unable to graduate this year.

“All I wanted to do was graduate, and I worked as hard as I could to actually get to walk because I wanted to get a diploma so I could get a job and save up to go to college,” Smith said.

Smith was behind in credits, a result of some misteps earlier in his high school career.

“I decided to screw around my freshman and sophomore year,” he said. “I failed bio and physical science — the first two semesters of them.”

Smith tripled up on his science courses by taking biology, physical science and chemistry.

He surrounded himself with a support system that included his girlfriend, his classmates and his family. He even found his own motivation by joining the football team, knowing he’d have to keep his grades in line if he wanted to play.

“I played football to help me get to where I don’t get behind in my grades,” he said. “Because if I play a sport and I get a D or below, then I wouldn’t be able to play.”

Smith was shocked when he found out he’d won an iPad as part of a statewide incentive. He was informed at a rehearsal for graduation Friday.

His parents couldn’t have been more excited, but the true moment of pride came Sunday when Smith walked across the Brandywine High School stage and got that diploma in his hands.

“Nothing but pride,” Ann Bowen, Smith’s mother, said of watching her son graduate. “You know, your heart swells and it’s like, he did it. He made it.”

Bowen credits Roeder and the staff at Brandywine High School for taking her son under their wing and who “really kicked his butta nd got him to do it.”

At Christmas break, he was still missing two and a half credits and she was getting phone calls from the school advising her he may not fulfill the requirements to graduate.

“He would sit for hours on the computer here at home because he was able to do (the work) here on the computer,” she said. “And then he would do his regular school work.”

When football ended, Bowen said her son’s devotion to his academic goal didn’t wane.

“He started going every single day to credit recovery for an hour every day after school,” she said.

Smith’s father, Brian also remarked on how his son has grown over the year.

“When I saw him get his diploma it just kind of brings a tear to your eye,” he said.

Brian said Smith also spent time focused on school work during the weekends.

“That made me feel proud, that he didn’t give up,” he said. “A lot of kids drop out of school and I just like to see kids succeed because that’s our future, our children … We’re supposed to pass on and teach them what we know … They’re young, they don’t understand you’ve got to try to get through to them and try to make them understand how important it is,” to graduate.

Getting a new computer is certainly a great way to reward the hard work, Brian said.

But it seems as though even Smith knows the real reward is in the accomplishment.

Since his last official day of school, Smith said he’s been looking for work in and around Niles. He’s hoping to go to college and wants to work in the automotive industry as a mechanic.

Walking across the stage Sunday, he said, felt like a personal triumph.

“I felt excited,” he said. “Like if you would have asked me at the beginning of this year, I would have said, I don’t know … I might have to come back …

“The freshmen (in school) now? I’d tell them not to slack off, because I say, ‘don’t slack off or you’ll end up like me,'” he said.

Which, in the end, didn’t turn out so bad.