Correspondent photo / Sean Barron Sarah Denunzio, 29, of Conneaut, shakes hands with Sandy Cain, right, Flying HIGH Inc.’s financial manager during a winter graduation ceremony Thursday in the agency’s Professional Development Center in downtown Youngstown. Denunzio was one of 38 graduates who were honored and given certificates for their achievements in several of Flying HIGH’s programs.

YOUNGSTOWN — Perhaps among the most memorable and endearing set of lyrics to the popular 1988 Bette Midler song, “The Wind Beneath My Wings,” state, “Oh, and I, I could fly higher than an eagle, for you are the wind beneath my wings, ’cause you are the wind beneath my wings.”

The soaring lines also served as the central theme — and likely life trajectories — for 38 vocational students who overcame a variety of trials and tribulations to graduate and earn credentials across a diverse set of tracks laid out, courtesy of Flying HIGH Inc.

For their achievements, the students were celebrated and honored during a winter graduation program Thursday afternoon at the agency’s Professional Development Center, 6 W. Federal St., downtown.

Among them was Thomas White, 44, of Warren, who recited some of his long-term struggles with alcoholism and efforts to stay sober.

“I want to help people and listen to where they’re at — not just relate to them, but understand, which leads to acceptance,” White, who was in Flying HIGH’s chemical dependency counseling program, said.

The other fields from which the graduates earned credentials were as certified nursing assistants, welders and carpenters.

For White, the last 20 years have been pockmarked with successes and struggles. He maintained sobriety from August 2004 to 2009 and again for a five-year stretch beginning in 2015, the year his 10-year-old son, Isaac White, was born, the elder White explained.

Despite such challenges, White’s background also includes having worked in a peer-support capacity for Burdman Group Inc. in a dual recovery role regarding alcoholism as well as mental and emotional challenges, he recalled.

In addition, White wants to be “the best dad” to his son, improve his diet and “be in better touch with what’s honest for me,” he added.

The event’s keynote speaker was John Demmler, 717 Credit Union’s president and chief executive officer, who praised the grads for their resilience and overcoming barriers to be able to graduate.

“Your past is not a prison; it is a preparation,” he told his audience, which also included many of the grads’ family members, friends and supporters.

Demmler, who has a 25-year career in banking and sits on the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber’s housing committee, reminded the grads of the nonlinearity in the paths they followed to reach their achievement. Specifically, they traveled on “a dirt road filled with potholes, detours and maybe a few dead-ends,” he said.

Demmler also articulated what he sees as the value of their chosen professions, such as how the grads can work to rebuild infrastructure, heal those who are ill and serve a valuable role for especially older people who have few family members and friends. In addition, the 38 graduates serve as proof that others have the capability to soar and turn their lives into something positive, he said.

“Eagles don’t fly high because they flap harder; they fly high because they catch the right currents,” Demmler added.

Demmler, whose father returned to school to earn his high school diploma in his mid-50s, also disseminated three pieces of advice for the grads, some of whom have gone a considerable length of time without earning a paycheck: set aside a small amount of money per pay period to establish an emergency fund, avoid businesses that engage in predatory lending practices and pay bills on time while refraining from overusing credit cards.

Instead, they would do well to form relationships with entities that “treat you like a member, not a number,” he advised.

Also, many businesses have failed because they spent too much time and money, and too many resources, on trying to fix past mistakes. Sound and solid businesses, on the other hand, “operate with a desire and commitment to look and move forward,” Demmler explained.

Beforehand, a few of the graduates spoke aloud with personal testimonials regarding how they feel being part of Flying HIGH Inc. has assisted them in transforming their lives. The agency has helped them become more resourceful, develop healthier coping methods pertaining to personal relationships, see the interconnectedness between passion and fulfilling one’s purpose and fuel a greater desire to give to others.

One of the graduates who was unable to attend the ceremony offered similar sentiments in an email that was read aloud.

“It’s been a privilege to walk through life with them and see them accomplish things that’ll give them a career and a better life,” Jeffrey M. Magada, Flying HIGH Inc.’s founder and executive director, said. “This is another stepping stone for them to do that.”

Calling Thursday’s graduation program “one of our highlights of the year,” Magada added that the grads are in a stronger position to use their skills to better themselves while serving others.

Also during the gathering, Magada presented Demmler with an Eagle Award and thanked 717 Credit Union for its support of Flying HIGH’s work.