{"id":10140,"date":"2021-06-02T13:00:46","date_gmt":"2021-06-02T17:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/?p=10140"},"modified":"2021-07-27T12:03:12","modified_gmt":"2021-07-27T16:03:12","slug":"stepping-into-a-bright-future-adult-learning-center-students-earn-ged-certificates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/stepping-into-a-bright-future-adult-learning-center-students-earn-ged-certificates\/","title":{"rendered":"Stepping into a bright future, Adult Learning Center students earn GED certificates"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"""\"<\/a>
Meredith Hansen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Challenges overcome. Certificate in hand. It\u2019s time to celebrate.<\/p>\n

Family and faculty cheered for 25 students who earned GED diplomas from the Adult Learning Center (ALC) May 27.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really feel phenomenal,\u201d Meredith Hansen said. \u201cAt first I was a little bit shocked that I had finished my GED tests. But once I found out what my mind was capable of, you can\u2019t stop me now. I feel so fantastic.\u201d<\/p>\n

At Renaissance Academy\u2019s auditorium, she walked down a red carpet and into the warm, festive applause of her family and friends who knew just how much effort it took to get her GED diploma.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was pegged as a problem kid and dropped out of high school my junior year,\u201d Hansen said. She married and started a family but found that she could only progress so far in her sales job without further education. She knew there must be a better way than working long hours without a chance of advancement.<\/p>\n

\u201cI decided to go back to school,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a story different for each graduate, but with the common thread of building strength through adversity. Hansen has already started taking classes at Tidewater Community College with plans to study political science at Old Dominion University and become a state delegate or pursue further education to become an environmental lawyer.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so proud, I can\u2019t even tell you just how proud I am,\u201d Hansen\u2019s mother, Sharon Smith, said after the ceremony. \u201cShe realized just how smart she is, and now she\u2019s in college!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"""\"<\/a>
Annalisa LaZar<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Like Hansen, Annalisa LaZar also started pursuing her GED certificate after finding that she could only advance so far in her work as an assistant property manager. And she, too, is enrolled at TCC.<\/p>\n

She finished six papers in her college classes in the week leading up to the graduation ceremony.\u00a0She could spare only a few hours of sleep while studying and working in property management. Now she\u2019s taking classes at TCC and plans to expand her cake-decorating business.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m pursuing dreams I had thought weren\u2019t possible,\u201d LaZar said<\/p>\n

Balloons, sparkling decorations and lots of smiles surrounded LaZar and the other graduates, who arrived in 10-minute time slots to allow for social distancing.<\/p>\n

Because of the pandemic, some students had more online learning than they originally expected, and others had to wait a year for the ceremony. But spirits weren\u2019t dampened in the least by the various health precautions associated with the pandemic.<\/p>\n

ALC teacher Georgette McGovern, who is retiring after 35 years with Virginia Beach City Public Schools, recognized each graduate by name as faculty members stood, applauded and lifted signs with slogans like, \u201cYou do it!.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an honor to do this,\u201d said McGovern, who taught for 30 years at the ALC. \u201cMost of them here today have been students of mine in the past year or two. And the staff is so invested in helping the students succeed.\u201d<\/p>\n

For a list of all the GED certificate recipients, visit www.smore.com\/4emzq<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A red carpet and other decorations added to the festive spirit as students celebrated earning their GED certificates from the Adult Learning Center. Faculty, staff and supporters organized the event. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Challenges overcome. Certificate in hand. It\u2019s time to celebrate. Family and faculty cheered for 25 students who earned GED diplomas from the Adult Learning Center (ALC) May 27. \u201cI really […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":10143,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10140","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10140"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10140\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10154,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10140\/revisions\/10154"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10143"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}