Bevill State holds GED graduation
06-11-2009
Bevill State held its GED graduation ceremony Thursday night with 62 students from Walker County participating. Photo By: Mary Bailey
Statistics show that since the General Equivalency Diploma, or GED, was first offered in 1942, roughly 20 million people have successfully passed. In Walker County, more than 200 adults have completed their GED since May of 2008.
Thursday night, the Jasper campus of Bevill State Community College added more deserving names to their ever-growing list of GED completions.
“We mailed out over 250 GED completion letters in the five county area of Bevill State,” said Nancy McDonald, who has been the director of adult education for Bevill State for almost 20 years. “We had 62 graduates in Walker County who decided to participate in the graduation ceremony Thursday night.”
The GED was first used by the United States Armed Forces Institute to help provide veterans a more practical opportunity to learn in a shorter amount of time. Studies now show that more than one million individuals take the GED test each year.
During the ceremony, seven GED graduates were inducted into the National Adult Education Honor Society.
“The students will have a life-time membership and all that we ask in return is that they be an advocate and help us to recruit for our program,” says McDonald. “They will also receive two letters of recommendation.”
Members of the Literacy Council’s Walker County chapter were also present to provide a $1,000 scholarship to the graduate with the highest GED scores for the year.
Upon completion of the GED, graduates are given one hour of college credit that can be used at any post-secondary institution in the Alabama Community College system. The credit is made possible by the Department of Post-Secondary Education.
“We give GED graduates a free credit hour so they can see if college will be the right fit for them,” McDonald said.
Graduates Matthew Dockery and Martha Miller gave brief speeches to their fellow classmates during the graduation ceremony.
The GED certificates were presented by Penne Mott, Jasper campus associate dean; Linda Clark, Walker County coordinator; Nancy McDonald, director of adult education for Bevill State; Steven Koon, Pickens County area coordinator; and Dr. Tina Boshell, president of the Literacy Council’s Walker County chapter.
Mary Bailey
Reprinted by permission of Daily Mountain Eagle
Friday, Jun 05, 2009
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