GED Program Offered in Houston County
By Greg Ritchie
Messenger Reporter
HOUSTON COUNTY – Angelina College is offering residents of Deep East Texas an opportunity to advance their education and career prospects with a new round of adult education classes, helping locals achieve their dream of a high school degree.
People are unable to finish high school for a number of reasons, but most of them later come to regret the decision. A piece of paper can’t make you smart, but the difference in opportunities between someone with or without a high school degree can be stark. The GED program is tailor-made for people of all ages who want to get their GED, either for jobs or as a personal achievement.
The program, part of the college’s Adult Education and Literacy division, includes virtual classes in several key areas: GED preparation, computer essentials, and workforce readiness. These classes are designed to help adults unlock new opportunities in both education and employment.
Rhonda Watson is the instructor for the program in Crockett and has been working for the college for eight years. She has students from high school age all the way up to senior citizens. Their reasons for getting their GED may differ, but Watson is able to work with each one, testing their knowledge and skills, and helping them improve in areas they need, before they take the tests to show off their new knowledge.
Watson said the program is free and those wishing to start can come and take a practice test and see where they are and what they may need to improve. She said she has one student set to graduate May 9 in Lufkin. The program is free, but there is a fee to take the test, although there is a grant program which may be able to help with that, too. The program runs three days a week from Crockett High School, giving students 12 hours per week toward their degree.
To be eligible, participants must reside in one of the following counties: Angelina, Houston, Nacogdoches, Newton, Polk, Sabine, San Augustine, San Jacinto, Shelby, Trinity or Tyler.
Registration is a four-step process: confirm residency in an eligible county, contact the adult education office, attend a scheduled orientation, and begin attending the appropriate class.
Residents as young as 17 qualify for the program, but they will need documentation from parents or some proof of why they are seeking their GED. The maximum age? There is none, and Watson said she has students of all ages and types.
Those receiving the degrees are thrilled, with Watson noting one man had left school in ninth grade, but was excited about his prospects of getting the job he was after, since GED or high school diploma was a requirement.
The older we get a further away from our high school days, the more we are bound to forget, although Watson remembered an older lady who had decided to get her GED and doing well in the program.
“She has progressed a lot because she quit school herself at an early age, and it was a struggle with her, but she has learned how to read and everything,” Watson said.
Watson, who works at Crockett ISD Early Childhood Center has all the packets and information and encourages those interested to give her a call so she can help them get started. Contact her at 936-544-2125 and choose option one.
Greg Ritchie can be reached at [email protected]
