An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Mellissa Morgan-Bozeman was midway through senior year in high school when complications with a pregnancy forced her to choose between her education and her daughter.
She dropped out and has since been ashamed of doing so, concealing it from co-workers in fear it might cost her her job.
But Richmond County's Project CHANGE Evening School has given her a second chance to get a high school diploma, something she knows will open doors.
For more than a decade, the program has allowed dropouts to return to school and pursue their diplomas. This year, the school tried out online classes, giving more flexibility to its students, many of whom juggle a family and a job along with school work.
"When it's slow at work, I can pull out my laptop," Mrs. Morgan-Bozeman said.
The contract for the online program was set to expire at the end of the month, but a two-year, $120,000 grant from the AT&T Foundation will enable it to continue.
"You can't call in sick," student Taneshia Donovan, 23, said with a smile.
Ms. Donovan dropped out, but once she earns her diploma she will begin work to become a nurse or a special-education teacher.
"Just by dropping out doesn't mean you have to run to get your GED," she said.
Richmond County is working to reinvent alternative education. It's not just about students who misbehave, Director of Alternative Education Winnette Bradley said.
"Students are really receiving a traditional education," she said. "What makes it nontraditional is the hours."
Students can attend class late in the afternoon and into the evening at Bungalow Road Alternative School, where teachers can assist them. They can also attend class from anywhere with Internet access.
"It's not as well known as we'd like it to be," Mrs. Bradley said.
She said it's important to her that dropouts return to school and earn their diplomas.
"It makes me feel like we made another human being proud of themselves and produced another contributing member of society," Mrs. Bradley said. "I'm so proud of what we're able to do."
By choosing evening school, the students said they have committed to getting a high school diploma instead of pursuing a GED.
"Thanks to this school I can get my diploma, my real diploma," Amanda Hagans said. "I'm ready to get my diploma, so I can go to college."
With the program being online, she will be able to complete her education before her husband deploys to Afghanistan.
"I don't know what I would do if not for this school," Mrs. Hagans said.
Most of the students in the evening school are high school dropouts. But some are high school students who have fallen behind and are trying to catch up through credit recovery.
The program is free to high school dropouts 19 and older. Students currently in school must pay $150 per class to recover credit.
Reach Greg Gelpi at (706) 828-3851 or greg.gelpi@augustachronicle.com.
ABOUT THE AT&T GRANT PROGRAM
Richmond County Board of Education
$120,000
Columbia County Board of Education
$50,000
Communities in Schools
$40,000
REGISTRATION
WHAT: Registration for Richmond County's Project CHANGE Evening School
WHEN: 3:30-6 p.m. Jan. 5-7
WHERE: Bungalow Road Alternative School, 2216 Bungalow Road
COST: Free for adults 19 and older who dropped out
For more information, call (706) 796-4880.
Comments
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Anything we can do to help educate our citizens is a good use of money, so long as they want to learn vs. being mandated to do so. We spend about $6,000.00 to educate our youth per year and over $30,000.00 per year to incarcerate them. Frankly, incarceration expense could and would go way down with simple and minor changes that are needed. First, violent criminals who most unfortunately do not make it to death row should only be allowed to receive a very small cell and their meals each day - nothing else, costs greatly reduced to the taxpayers. Most of the savings should go back to the taxpayers but some could go to building modern prisons that would require many less personnel and less needs to move prisoners around, etc. which is far better for officer safety. From there, we really need to improve our educational system. While throwing more money at something as the govt. normally does simply does not work, one thing that is drastically needed in our school system is reduced classroom sizes. A teacher can not effectively teach 32 students of many varying learning degres in one class and with more funds, class sizes could/should be cut in 1/2 for all required courses.
This is good. Notice that this grant comes from the private sector - not the government. The private sector can do wonderful things for our country if government will just get out of the way.
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