NORTH CHARLESTON — Jessica Resch spent many nights last year studying at the kitchen table next to her eighth-grade son.

The 55-year-old Charleston seamstress, nearly 40 years after dropping out of high school, was determined to secure her high school diploma.

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On Aug. 16, Resch gave the valedictorian address to 19 fellow graduates of the Palmetto Excel Center, a public charter school on the Trident Technical College campu

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