A second chance for a diploma myeasternshoremd kent county

A second chance for a diploma

By MAEGAN CLEARWOOD Student intern | Posted: Sunday, July 1, 2012 12:00 am ROCK HALL ­ Nearly 150 Kent County High School students strode across a stage last year, beaming in their golden caps and gowns as they embarked on a new chapter of their lives. Although it was a joyous day for the students earning their diplomas, the senior class was some students short.

According to the Maryland Report Card, the high school's 2011 dropout rate was 11.56 percent – that means over four years, 20 students left the school system.

For those who didn't make that walk, as well as other Kent County residents who haven't earned their high school diploma, the town of Rock Hall is offering a second chance.

The Rock Hall Citizens Committee contacted Chesapeake College with its proposal for a general equivalency diploma program earlier this year; since then, the two groups have worked diligently to plan classes and spread the word among potential students.

"Programs have been offered in Kent County previously, but people weren't choosing to take them.

We've never had one in Rock Hall," said Mary Etta Reedy, a committee member and former assistant superintendent of instruction for the county schools.

Kent, the smallest county in the state, was slightly above the average 11.22 percent dropout rate for the state last year. It is in fourth place among schools on Maryland's Eastern Shore, trailing Worcester (6.42 percent), Queen Anne's (7.3 percent) and Talbot (9.11 percent). Somerset, at 19.9 percent, was highest on the Shore and in the state.

According to Director of Continuing Education Elaine Wilson, Chesapeake College hosts GED programs in six Maryland counties. The program is funded through grants from the Division of Labor, Licensing and Regulation and is free to students. The college is willing to hold classes anywhere, as long as the community can find a free location and an interested audience.

Rock Hall's Municipal Building will serve as the classroom; as for the interested audience, Reedy said the community certainly has a pool of students.

"There are just so many people who have not gotten a high school diploma in our area. People need a diploma for access to so many opportunities," Reedy said. "We want anybody who has an interest in getting a high school diploma to attend; it's not just for Rock Hall residents."

The Citizens Committee proposed the idea for a local GED program in January as part of the Rock Hall Comprehensive Plan review. It had no trouble garnering interest.

"People just jumped on it. I was just shocked at how easy it was to put together," she said.

The committee has sent information about the program to everyone who has dropped out of Kent County High School in the last five years, but the class is open to anyone, young and old.

"We also target people who have been out of school for a while," Wilson said. "We find that they are much more motivated to come back and get a degree."

Motivation for returning to school varies. Wilson said that while for some it's "simply the sense of accomplishment," there are increasing numbers of older students who, after being displaced from longtime jobs, find they need a high school diploma to reenter the work force.

“In these economic times, it's more vital than it ever was,” she said.

Traditionally, the Chesa­peake College GED program has honed skills to prepare students for the five areas of the exam: Reading, writing, social studies, science, and math. Recently, however, the adult

education classes have started to combine basic education with more specific, marketable skills to prepare students for employment. Wilson said the Rock Hall program coordinators hope to “identify a field that many are interested in entering and tailor the class for them.”

“Rather than just handing them a book and saying, 'This is what you need to learn for the GED,' we're using business or career planning to look into what people want to do next,” said Chesapeake College GED Program Coordinator Jason Mullen. “The more we can show students what they're getting out of it the better. There's a lot of research for more contextualized classes to help them get from no job to a low­paying job to a higher­level job.”

The first semester's classes will be on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 6:30 to 9 p.m., Sept. 17 through Dec. 13. An interest meeting will be held on July 31 at 6:30 p.m. at the Municipal Building. Along with determining how to tailor the curriculum to the students' specific training interests, the meeting will include an assessment test to gauge their skills.

Classes typically serve multilevel students, allowing them to progress at their own pace. Although juggling classes with family and work can be challenging for some, Reedy said the committee is making every effort to accommodate any and all interested in passing the exam.

“It's always a factor of how much they want to put into it. It's only five hours a week, so that's not necessarily a large time commitment,” Wilson said. “Our class schedules are flexible so that we can accommodate people.”

Along with outside help and personalized tutoring, Reedy said the Rock Hall program hopes to provide transportation and child care services for students with hectic schedules. Computers have already been donated for classroom use, and the committee is working to garner funding to offset the cost of textbooks.

“We are doing everything we can to support people,” Reedy said. “We know how hard it is to go back to school when you have jobs and children.”