Polk County Adult education had a very successful year for 2007-08. We had 256 students with 12 hours or more of instruction, a pre and post-test and our average completion level was 88.67 %.

From the group that had "GED" as their goal, we had 79 to pass, which was up from the 45 we had last year. The total number of students served was 402. The reason for this is that we work with the Career Center to help get unemployed workers back on the job. We have had lots of students enter postsecondary education or training, some have gone on to college, some have got to keep their jobs while others have actually gotten a job. That's what we are all about, to help the unemployed and the high school dropouts gain enough knowledge and skills to better  themselves.

On June 1, we held our third graduation ceremony at South Polk elementary. We had 22 participate in the graduation. It was a joyous time for them and their families. The highest achiever of the year was Heather Letz (not pictured) and the second highest achiever was Michael Honaker. The age of the youngest graduate was 17 and the oldest was Ms. Shirley Thompson from our Ducktown class who is 65. Ms. Shirley had a very good scoring average and she has turned out to be one of our best volunteer recruiters. All these students and their instructors deserve a word of praise for all the hard work and dedication they put into reaching their goals.

We will be starting our summer academy for training July 30th and we’re hoping to return with lots of new ideas. As I have said before , our budget has been cut, but that is not going to affect how we serve our students. We look forward to even a much better year and more GED’s than ever.

If you or someone you know needs a GED, or to improve your skills for a job, please give us a call. We will be offering free day and evening classes. Our phone number is 423-338-2245.

“This project is funded under an agreement with Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development and does not discriminate against anyone regardless of race, age, or gender.”