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Adult Learning Center students Deneen Porter, from left, Darnell Boynton and William Gardner work on their school work at the center.
Center works to draw adult students for GED
Program boosts efforts for earning diplomas
By Erika Capek (The Brunswick News): Adult Education Center officials are working to increase enrollment in the GED program in Glynn County.
There’s a need for it.
According to the state office of Adult Education, nearly 8,000 out of 44,806 residents in Glynn County over the age of 25, or 17.8 percent, do not have a high school diploma or a General Educational Development diploma.
That does not include high school dropouts between 16 and 24 years of age, said Sandra Williams, dean for adult education. Adult Education Centers, which operate under the umbrella of Altamaha Technical College, serve seven counties in Southeast Georgia, including Glynn County.
“We’re really going to push to build our enrollment,” Williams said. “There are many people in this county that we do need to serve.”
In Glynn County, there are four Adult Education Centers. Their primary goal is to help students earn a GED.
Teachers also work with anyone over the age of 16 who is out of high school and wants to improve basic skills, Williams said. In addition, the centers prepare students who need to take a college entrance exam or potential employees who need to pass a company test to be hired.
The program this learning year has served 329 students, who met at least the minimum of 12 contact hours. There have been more then 21,000 contact hours with students since July, officials said. “Everything is free, except for the cost of the GED test, which is $95,” Williams said. Scholarships are available for the test.
A student’s education doesn’t have to stop at a GED, Williams said. “We work with people individually to encourage and help them go on to further their education of some sort,” she said.
Shawn Williams, lead instructor at the Adult Education Center, said there is always a need for volunteers and mentors at the four sites – Golden Isles Career Academy, Whispering Oaks apartments, Adult Learning Center and Goodwill.
“We’re in need of having more individuals donate some time,” he said. “They would be able to offer some one-on-one help with our students academically.”
Mentors can help just by having conversations with students about plans and goals, Shawn Williams said.
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