GED prep program restores hope

They show up in throngs, pencils in hand, unopened notebook paper tucked underneath the arms of freshly ironed collard shirts.

“Where is the GED class?” bounces in faint echoes, as students scramble throughout the hallways of Kilgore College’s Hendrix building in Longview, TX.

It’s the first day of the Kilgore College adult education GED preparation program.

Director of Adult education at Kilgore College Bobbie McGee –Benson stands in the doorway greeting students as they make their way into room 223, the GED classroom, as she has done for the past 14 years.

“As long as I have been here this is the first time that I have seen so many African American students,” she says. “I am glad to see that more Africans are taking advantage of this program.”

According to a report released by the GED testing service, despite the fact that African Americans and Hispanics are more likely to have not graduated from high school, 53.5 % of GED candidates are white. However, even this number is only a very small percentage of the 39 million Americans without a high school diploma. Out of the 39 million, African Americans are 21 percent more likely to not have earned a high school diploma.

Part of the good new is that Kilgore College has a very high number of Adult education students who choose to further their education and enroll in college after obtaining their GED.

“I think that it’s the tone I set. I tell the students from the very beginning that they are a part of Kilgore College… they are on a level of Kilgore College now,” McGee-Benson says. “Earning your GED is not a red light…it’s a green light.”

There are also many programs that community colleges are now using to bridge the gap between Adult education programs and students entering college. Kilgore College is a part of this movement. McGee-Benson will represent Kilgore College at an Adult Education conference next week to discuss their success in enrolling students into Kilgore College after obtaining their GED.

Although Benson-McGee has many accomplishments within the Adult education program but one that she is most of is the official GED graduation which takes place every June.

“It’s just another way to celebrate their success and make a statement,” she says.

Dr. Julie Fowler, Executive Dean and Chief Administrator of Kilgore College-Longview, reflects on McGee-Benson’s first GED graduation.

“The first graduation had six people and now we’ve moved the graduation into Dodson auditorium,” says Fowler.

The Kilgore College GED program has grown as have the number of participants. One of the reasons for its success is more than it being a state-mandated program but the schools passion for GED starts at the very top of the administrative ladder with Dr. Julie Fowler. Fowler says that she, too, has a passion for GED students and in fact did her dissertation on the topic.

“Many of these students have fallen through the cracks…for whatever reason. Some of them just need a second chance,” she says.

It is the people that have fallen through the cracks that often times make-up the staggering statistics in this country on poverty and lack of access to healthcare. According to the U.S Census Bureau thirty-four percent of adults without a high school diploma live in households at or below the poverty level of $18,400 for a family of four. The number of uninsured children in 2006 was 8.1 million. For African Americans, the number of uninsured in 2006 was 7.4 million. Fowler believes that education can lead a path away from all of this.

“I believe that everyone should have access to education and healthcare and I believe that we should all go out of our way to help others, but education is key. Education can change lifestyles. If you have an education you can get your own healthcare,” says Fowler.

There are many students that have done just that. When asked about fond memories of student in the program McGee-Benson reflects on one particular student.

“He was originally an ESL (English as a Second Language) student. He took ESL classes for about three years and after three years he transferred to the GED program. After about three more years in the GED classes I urged him to go ahead and take the test. I told him that I believed that he could pass the test. He responded that he wanted to do more than pass it…he wanted to go to college and be prepared. He went on to get his GED and enrolled into Kilgore College's RN program. He is now an RN at Longview Regional and has since brought many students into the GED program,” she says.

Lakeisha Davis is a student in Kilgore College’s GED prep program. She is one of the increasing numbers of African Americans enrolled in classes this summer.

“I was in the classes a while back and I had to quit because I never could get the babysitting lined up for my daughter. Now that I’ve got her situated and I talked to the peole in the program and they said that I could come back,” Davis says.

Many times family circumstances are a reason that people drop out of high school to begin with and with this in mind, Kilgore College has GED classes that begin every month and offer both day and night classes.

The next GED classes begin Monday August 3rd. Morning classes begin 8:00am and evening classes begin at 5:00pm in room 223. Registration is on the first day of class and classes are free of charge.

For more information contact:
Kilgore College—Longview 300 S. High Street Phone: (903) 988-3738 or (903) 753-2642 www.kilgore.edu/abe.asp

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