Courtesy photo The 10 graduates of the Nashua region IMPACCT Academy gather for a group photo following Thursday's graduation ceremony. They include Samer Abukhalaf, Gabrieli Barbosa, Star Basler, Brooke Buotte, Emily Czmut, Sarah Czmut, Lucca DaSilva, Connor Frizzell, Kiera Parlow and Jillian Sirois. (Courtesy photo)

NASHUA – She’s considered a “student success story,” meeting, but mostly exceeding, her goals as a participant in a unique academy called “Inspiring the Mastery of Post-secondary Achievement in College, Careers and Training,” best known by its acronym, IMPACCT.

On Thursday morning, Emily Czmut, an 18-year-old Mason resident, graduated five months early from Milford High School at a roughly one-hour “virtual” commencement ceremony for IMPACCT’s Nashua region fall 2020 class.

Emily was among 10 young men and women who graduated Thursday, a group that included her sister, Sarah.

“This program really helped me a lot,” Emily said before the graduation. “This program goes a step further than high school does … on teaching you how to be independent.”

IMPACCT Academy, launched several years ago in Nashua with the backing of about two dozen local organizations and businesses, allows students with learning or similar disabilities to take part in a 14-week program designed to assist at-risk students in transitioning to post-high school life and career opportunities.

A partnership of Granite State Independent Living (GSIL) and New Hampshire Vocational Rehabilitation (NHVR), the program has four regional sites, including Nashua, Manchester, Concord-Lakes Region and Berlin-Littleton.

For Emily, dealing with anxiety issues has made working toward her goal of becoming a pharmacy assistant difficult at times, she said.

But thanks to the coping skills she learned at the IMPACCT Academy, she has succeeded in conducting a pair of significant interviews, one with a nurse and the other with a representative of CVS – where she hopes one day to work as a pharmacy assistant.

A full story will appear in this weekend’s issue of The Sunday Telegraph.

Dean Shalhoup may be reached at 594-1256 or dshalhoup@nashuatelegraph.com.