Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 10, 1990 TAG: 9006080384
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-6 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: AUDREY OSBORNE SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Oh sure, there is a majority on 18-year-olds. But they have a wide array of company.
Adults between ages 18 and 50 will be the latest group to celebrate graduation.
On June 29, in the Christiansburg High School auditorium, they will participate in the first adult graduation ceremony sponsored by the Montgomery County Public School System.
"We have had the graduation ceremony in the back of our minds for a while, but we just got the OK from the administration in April to go ahead with it," said Danette Poole, secretary of Montgomery County adult education.
All Montgomery County residents who have received a GED certificate through the Montgomery County School System since January 1988 were invited to participate in the graduation ceremony. Also, any adult who attended the night high-school credit class this spring and completed requirements for the high-school diploma can participate.
Forty-one graduates have decided to attend the evening ceremony, Poole said. Graduates will get special treatment when they proceed into the auditorium at 8 p.m. in royal blue caps and gowns furnished.
Dorothy Bishop, a Riner resident who received her GED in June 1989, said she is elated to participate in the ceremony.
"I asked for 40 tickets, but they said I could only have 10," she said, noting she wished she could have included all her family and friends at the ceremony.
She dropped out of the 10th grade at Blacksburg High in 1965 to get married and then remained home raising her children. She did not go back to school to finish her degree for 25 years. And then she started to feel empty, she said.
"I felt like I was missing something," she said of not having received her diploma. "I didn't think I needed to stay in school, but I found out I really couldn't get by without it."
She enrolled in the GED program in January of 1989 and took classes three times a week at Christiansburg Presbyterian Church.
"It was hard at first, that goes without saying. The hardest part was retaining information because it had been so long since I was in school," she said.
But she said with the help of fantastic teachers and friends in class, she made it through. "I even had my own kids help me with my homework!"
Sandra Phillips, another GED recipient who lives on the outskirts of Radford, said she is thrilled about her accomplishments, and also is looking forward to the ceremony.
"My husband is so proud. He doesn't have his degree, but because I completed the program, I think he may be more inclined to finish his own degree now," PHillips said.
Like her friend Bishop, Phillip's fate was to get married at age 15 and raise five children while working at a local sewing factory.
Between her family and job, she found no time to go back to school. When she finally decided to change jobs, she found that she couldn't apply for the job without a high school diploma.
"I didn't realize things had gotten that strict," she said.
She enrolled in the same classes as Bishop and together they finished their diploma requirements.
She now hopes to continue her education at New River Community College in the fall.
"The hardest part is taking that first step to get into the program," she said, "but if I hadn't dropped out to begin with, it wouldn't have been so hard. I would encourage kids to stay in school now at all costs."
Edward Jones, director of continuing education at Virginia Commonwealth University, will be guest speaker.
by CNB