At Milwaukee Area Technical College’s graduation ceremony earlier this year, Secretary of Education John B. King Jr, told the story of Yucca Donahue.

Yucca is a single mother who works 12 hours a day operating a daycare center out of her house. She decided to go to MATC both to expand opportunity for herself, but also for the sake of her students  . . . 

When a fire destroyed the kitchen in her daycare center and cost a considerable amount of money to repair, it was simply for Yucca another challenge to overcome. Yucca insisted on going to school the same day the fire occurred because she understood how important it was not to miss class.

Later in the speech, King told Anderson Randolph’s story: “Anderson decided to pursue a degree in funeral services after he was downsized from the banking job he had held for over 30 years. He had done part-time work in the funeral industry, and he thought it might be a good way to get back on his feet.”