When new students enter the Owens Aspire College and Career Readiness program, they are greeted with three simple but powerful words.

“Welcome future graduates.”

Roughly 592,000 Ohioans, ages 25 and older, do not have a high school diploma, according to the most recent U.S. Census Bureau data. On May 21, that number dipped as the Aspire program celebrated 29 graduates who received their high school …