For a roomful of teenagers, it was so quiet. They were dressed up and ready to celebrate. But when Adam Cornell began to speak, a hush fell. They listened hard to someone who’s been where they are.

Where they’ve all been – the teens and the polished young lawyer in the dark suit – is in foster care.

The occasion was a dinner Tuesday at Lombardi’s Cucina in Everett to honor 15 teens for graduating from high school or earning a General Education Development, or GED, certificate.

All have been in foster care, with cases handled by the Everett office of the state Department of Social and Health Services’ Division of Children and Family Services.

“Congratulations, all of you,” said Cornell, 31. He told of being taken from drug- and alcohol-addicted parents at age 5; of being a defiant kid in a half-dozen foster homes and a dozen schools; of being adopted at 14, only to have his father commit suicide; and of making his way to Georgetown University, to law school in Oregon, and to work as a deputy prosecutor in the Snohomish County Prosecutor’s Office.

“With each home,” he said, “I lost a little bit of heart.”

Sad story. But it wasn’t the end of Cornell’s tale, and he assured the teens it’s not the end of theirs. “All of you have been called survivors,” he said. “You have done more than survive. You have thrived.”

They have indeed defied the odds. Brandon Dalton, supervisor of the adolescent unit in the Everett DSHS office, said only about 30 percent of foster care youths complete secondary education.

Cornell’s experience of a family torn apart is typical, social worker Jeannine Fosca said. “About 90 percent of cases involve drugs and alcohol,” she said.

The graduation dinner was a first. Social workers in the Everett DSHS office held a car wash and silent auction to help pay for the event. Event sponsors included Lombardi’s restaurant, the Everett Rotary, Target of Lake Stevens, Gaylord Bed &Breakfast, and KidsDream of Snohomish County, which provided gift baskets.

Because of privacy issues, I can’t name all the teens.

There’s a Mariner High School football player, the first in his family to earn a diploma. A young woman who has been in 32 foster homes hopes to take her GED success all the way to medical school. One teen thanked his grandmother and his parole officer.

And there’s Amanda Nadeau. The 18-year-old graduate of Mount Vernon High School received a $20,000 Governor’s Scholarship. She’ll study art history at Western Washington University.

For five years, Nadeau has lived in Conway with foster parents Joel and Shelley Johnstone. Before that, home was a teen shelter in Everett.

“She’s a strong person,” said Shelley Johnstone. She and her husband have no other children. Their home is a haven for Nadeau, who said, “I’d always felt like an outsider.”

Once the outsider, she’s well on her way to being someone like Adam Cornell, who can tell foster kids there’s a good life beyond the heartbreak.

“I didn’t think foster care was who I am. It was something that happened to me,” Nadeau said. “You keep your head up. It’s not who you are.”

Columnist Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460 or muhlsteinjulie@heraldnet.com.