Pictured left to right: Lilly Sicotte, Cynthia DePetro and Annie Sicotte. DePetro holds a photo of Annie Sicotte’s graduation with five month old Lilly Sicotte, now 18 years later the three have come full circle at Lilly Sicotte’s graduation. (Journal photo by Antonio Anderson)

MARQUETTE – Wednesday evening saw the class of 2025 graduate from Marquette Alternative High School and with it a rare story came full circle. One of the 25 graduates, Lilly Sicotte walked the stage with teacher and godmother Cynthia DePetro who held Lilly Sicotte at her mother’s graduation in 2007.

“First I want to say that I think I graduated, because after all I kind of did it twice,” said Lilly Sicotte in the opening of her graduation speech. “Once in the womb and once in the room, get it?”

Lilly Sicotte’s mother, Annie Sicotte, spent most of her Junior and Senior year of highschool pregnant. Thanks to her own hard work, and the community of Marquette Alternative she was able to succeed.

“I was pregnant my Junior year and had her January of my senior year,” said Annie Sicotte. “So I really had to buckle down and get it done but Marquette Alternative really helped. There is so much community and they are so much like a family that it made it possible.”

Annie Sicotte decided to keep her family in the area and put her daughter and children through Marquette Alternative for that reason.

“There is nobody else that I would want my children with,” said Annie Sicotte. “Cindy, Crunk, Jesse, Kim, all of them were my teachers…. It was so impactful for me. It was a home away from home and when I was up there with her (Lilly) she had the same dress I had and everything.”

Cynthia DePetro wrote and read a speech for Lilly Sicotte, just as she did with her mother, telling her how proud she was of her accomplishment and her strength. Prior to that Lilly Sicotte gave a speech to her class and to the school, citing how important Marquette Alternative was to her growth and ability to push on through the hard times.

“I want to give a huge thank you to the school,” said Lilly Sicotte.” It has helped me so much… I never thought I was going to pass any of my classes, I never thought I would be able to make it this far, but little did my freshman self know that even though I was making these dumb decisions I would be able to pick up all the pieces and make it here today. I am so glad that I had a school that I felt I belonged in, this is what gave me a reason to keep on pushing and keep on going.”

DePetro feels honored to have been such an important figure for Annie and Lilly Sicotte both, and feels a sense of pride for Marquette Alternative.

“I feel our program has helped students with varying challenges to meet their educational needs,” said DePetro. ” We see them as individuals, and help them in their unique and current situations. To see a student work through a teen pregnancy and graduate is not only the role to support and assist, but personally and emotionally to feel immense pride, for both the mother and the staff. It proves that no matter what one is going through, they can get the help and support to reach and realize their judicious potential. Holding that beautiful baby, back then, reminded me of how important life is, and what a great role model Anna, the mother, is for being proud of her daughter and being proud of graduating. To now have it come full circle shows that what we are doing at MAHS is only effective, but preferred.”

Lilly Sicotte herself feels very special to have been a part of this tradition and legacy at Marquette Alternative.

“It’s an overall great experience that I got to be able to do this,” said Lilly Sicotte. “Just the whole circle of it.”

Lilly Sicotte’s brother is set to start at Marquette Alternative next year, the impact the school had on their mother’s life with the support has touched the whole family.

“Lilly chose our program, as did her mother, although the program has changed over the years. What hasn’t changed, though, is the love, support and individual needs being met for each student,” said DePetro. “Our principal and the entire staff work diligently to care for all students and find what works best for them, while meeting the standards needed to succeed in this world/ The thing I remember most about 18 years ago was that some day, Lilly was going to know how much her mother valued her, and how hard her mother worked to prepare for the world ahead of them. How the memory has changed now is that I get to see Anna’s hard work come to fruition, and know that Lilly is as tenacious as she was and still is.”

Annie and Lilly Sicotte’s story is not the only one at Marquette Alternative that showcases tenacity and determination to push through tough times. Various other students in this current class dealt with: mental health struggles, familial deaths, no sense of belonging and much more. Yet the staff at Marquette Alternative were able to help the students along to success in high school, and now many have goals of heading into the workforce, into the skilled trades, attending college and even shooting for the stars in aerospace engineering.

“I want to thank the teachers for actually giving me a chance and showing me that they are not just going to throw a piece of paper in my face and that I just have to figure it out,” said Lilly Sicotte. “Being able to have an actual friendship with my teachers was amazing.”

Antonio Anderson can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 550. His email address is aanderson@miningjournal.net.