With nearly 40 years of teaching experience between them both (with 14 focused on adult education), Gail Adams and Cindy West lead a program designed to help adults hoping to finish their high school education.
Located at WV Northern Community College, but under the umbrella of Ohio County Schools, the grant-funded Ohio County Adult Learning Center offers classes designed to help learners attain their high school equivalency diploma, also known as the GED.
“The majority of our students are ages 20-35,” West states, “but the ages and the stories vary. Our youngest student is 17, and our oldest student is 88.”
For two years, the center has held the distinction of having the WV Adult Education Student of the Year, last year’s Ling Curtis and this year’s Daniel Ueltschy, who is currently employed by Ohio County Schools.
“The program provides high school equivalency instruction for the 4 GED subtests: math, social studies, science, and reasoning through language arts. We also teach English to non-native speakers, and we offer online courses for people preparing to take the service personnel test (NOCTI) as well as the TEAS test for the medical field,” Adams states.
Every student’s needs are different, and once a student takes the initial step of contacting the center, their length of time spent earning the diploma varies. All students begin by taking a basic skills test before working with West and Adams to develop their own plan of study. Once they feel ready, students can begin completing GED Ready tests, a requirement for the state of WV. Upon successful completion of this, students can move forward with the formal GED.
“We want our students to know that this isn’t an ending, but a beginning,” states Adams, “While they are students here, not only do they get content instruction, but we aim to find out interests so they can move forward. We want them to see that good things happen here, and there are good things ahead.”
West and Adams agree that the hardest part is taking the initial step. Adams adds, “If they can pick up the phone to call, learners will find that it’s comfortable, welcoming, supportive, and unlike any educational program they’ve had.”
It’s NEVER too late to continue learning, and our community and school system offer these opportunities for interested learners for free. Check out the Ohio County Adult Learning Center on Facebook or call 304-214-8948 for more information.