The class valedictorian at Metropolitan Business Academy — which offers programs in allied health and science, digital arts and technology, law and political science, and finance — celebrated more than just her academic success. For Lesly Gonzalez-Benitez, graduating was a triumph for all undocumented students like herself who have found ways to embrace their identities despite hardship. “Your status does not define you,” said Gonzalez. “It will not bring you down but empow

When Derek Bedoya heard his hometown mentioned in the movie Judas and the Black Messiah, he was so surprised that he almost paused the film. Four months and one research project later, he’s working to teach his peers about the Black Panthers’ footprint in New Haven—and to question what else might have been left out of their history books. Bedoya is a senior at Metropolitan Business Academy, where students have been researching and mapping New Haven’s Black, Latinx and Indigen