{"id":1403502,"date":"2022-03-27T21:14:38","date_gmt":"2022-03-28T01:14:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1403502"},"modified":"2022-03-27T21:14:46","modified_gmt":"2022-03-28T01:14:46","slug":"101-year-old-west-virginia-man-receives-high-school-diploma-i-cant-think-of-a-happier-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/101-year-old-west-virginia-man-receives-high-school-diploma-i-cant-think-of-a-happier-day\/","title":{"rendered":"101-Year-Old West Virginia Man Receives High School Diploma: &#039;I Can\u2019t Think of a Happier Day&#039;"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">30<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2F101-year-old-west-virginia-man-receives-high-school-diploma-i-cant-think-of-a-happier-day%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1403502&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Merrill-Pittman-Cooper-101-graduation-Jefferson-Co-Schools-WV-facebook-640x335-1.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p class=\"subheading\">A 101-year-old man who hails from West Virginia recently received his high school diploma more than 80 years after being forced to drop out when his family moved for \u201cfinancial reasons.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Merrill Pittman Cooper, 101, was a student at the former Harper\u2019s Ferry high School Storer College from 1934-1938, Jefferson County Schools (JCS) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jcswv.org\/article\/692025\">said<\/a> in a press release.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<div class=\"fb-post\" data-href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JeffersonCountySchools\/photos\/3059531070928371\" data-width=\"640\">\n<blockquote cite=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JeffersonCountySchools\/photos\/a.1612981848916641\/3059531070928371\/?type=3\" class=\"fb-xfbml-parse-ignore\">\n<p>Posted by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/1612562812291878\">Jefferson County Schools, WV<\/a> on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JeffersonCountySchools\/photos\/a.1612981848916641\/3059531070928371\/?type=3\">Monday, March 21, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<p>Storer College was founded in 1867 with the goal of providing an education to former slaves in the Shenandoah Valley in the aftermath of the Civil War, West Virginia Public Broadcasting <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wvpublic.org\/radio\/2019-10-02\/october-2-1867-foundation-of-storer-college-in-harpers-ferry\">reported<\/a>. The school educated 7000 students in its 88 years of operation before closing in 1955, the National Park Service <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nps.gov\/hafe\/learn\/historyculture\/storer-college.htm\">said<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>While at Storer College, Cooper studied English, Latin, math, biology, and history, but during his senior year, \u201clife circumstances intervened when he moved with his mother to Philadelphia for financial reasons,\u201d JCS said.<\/p>\n<p>Cooper <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/lifestyle\/2022\/03\/26\/merrill-pittman-cooper-diploma-101\/\">told<\/a> the <em>Washington Post<\/em> that he knew his single mother could not come up with the final tuition payment, so he suggested they relocate to Philadelphia to be near family.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cShe worked so hard, and it all became so difficult that I just decided it would be best to give up continuing at the school,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Cooper stayed in Philadelphia for 50 years, working in transportation and eventually becoming a union vice president, the JCS said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI got so involved in working and making a living that my dreams went out the window,\u201d he told the <em>Post<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>In 2018, Cooper visited the former Storer campus, which is now part of Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, and voiced remorse over not obtaining his diploma.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCooper\u2019s family members reached out to park staff, who began a process of collaboration with local, regional, and state entities to honor Mr. Cooper, his time at Storer, and his life beyond its campus,\u201d JCS said.<\/p>\n<p>JCS worked with\u00a0the Storer College of National Alumni Association, the Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, and the West Virginia Department of Education to get Cooper his high school diploma. The 101-year-old received the degree during a ceremony with his extended family on March 19, the JCS said in a Facebook post. The ceremony took place in Jersey City because Cooper now lives in Union City, NJ, the <em>Post<\/em> noted.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fb-post\" data-href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JeffersonCountySchools\/photos\/3059531157595029\" data-width=\"640\">\n<blockquote cite=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JeffersonCountySchools\/photos\/a.1612981848916641\/3059531157595029\/?type=3\" class=\"fb-xfbml-parse-ignore\">\n<p>Posted by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/1612562812291878\">Jefferson County Schools, WV<\/a> on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JeffersonCountySchools\/photos\/a.1612981848916641\/3059531157595029\/?type=3\">Monday, March 21, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cI can\u2019t think of a happier day,\u201d the 101-year-old high school graduate told the outlet.<\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cJefferson County Schools is committed to helping every student, young or old, fulfill their dreams,\u201d said JCS Superintendent Bondy Shay Gibson-Learn in the JCS release. \u201cFor Mr. Cooper, that meant receiving a high school diploma. We are honored to help make that dream a reality.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A 101-year-old man who hails from West Virginia recently received his high school diploma more than 80 years after being forced to drop out when his family moved for \u201cfinancial<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1403502","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1403502","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1403502"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1403502\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1403502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1403502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1403502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}