Walk its halls and hear its praise.

In the Newberry school where teens and adults get second chances at high school credit, acclaim flows unhindered at Newberry Adult Education on McSwain Street:

“So much patience, so much patience,” says student Jackie Dominick of her teacher Helen Griffin.

“Absolutely, hands down the best principal I’ve ever worked for,” says teacher Griffin of principal David Green.

“(E)xcellent teachers,” says Green of the faculty.

And after many there took—and passed—the GED or high school-level exam, even the state has something to add:

“The Newberry County Adult Education has a history of producing good pass rates for the GED exam,” says David Stout, GED Administrator for the state Department of Education. “Newberry County was the state’s leader in first time GED pass rate.”

Newberry won awards—Palmetto Masters and Trend Setters—for beating the state percentage for how many of its students passed the General Educational Development test, and for how many passed the GED on the first try.

“For the last three years, we have exceeded the state’s pass rate,” Green says.

’I care about you as a person’

One quick to pass the buck for praise, Green says success in the school comes from different areas: a school staff always looking for ways to do better, a good relationship with area high schools where some students come from. and first and foremost — great teachers.

Teachers for the Adult Education program each have one of two credentials: they either teach full-time in the school district currently, or are retired teachers.

“So they have all that wealth of information from the schools that helps them,” Green says.

Plus, Green hires those who are compassionate towards GED seekers who “are looking for someone they can trust and they can rely on,” he says.

Many students have low self-esteem, he says, which some hide under a big ego.

The old saying that few “care about how much you know until they know how much you care” rings true with adult education students, he says.

“I have excellent teachers that are not just good at teaching, but good at conveying to the students not just: ’I care about you as a student, but I care about you as a person,’” he says.

’... can’t do all the things I used to’

Students seem not to mind compassion from teachers alongside their schoolwork.

And many have seen hard times first hand.

In a classroom of nine students, six say they seek a GED because of the hard economy.

After area plants closed like Bluewater Marine and Renfro, and others like McKechnie laid off many, Green says some can’t pay bills and are losing their homes.

“Since the downturn in the economy, many adults realize that if you’re going to get a decent job, they’re going to at least have to have their GED,” says Green. “It’s hard to even to get a job at McDonalds without your GED.”

Jackie Dominick, for one, earned pay through what she says was intense seaming labor at Renfro before Whitmire’s sock producer shut down a year ago.

Now she hopes a GED leads her to better work—less ache and more money. After earning her GED, Dominick will attend Piedmont Tech on the way to early childhood credentials for babysitting, care giving or perhaps teaching.

“I’m at the age where I really don’t want any hard labor,” Dominick says. “I’m just not young and I can’t do all the things I used to.”

Sitting in the classroom with Dominick are other adults like her who trust that more education opens the door to better opportunities.

“A lot of my teenagers don’t see it yet,” says Green of the students.

In the last three years, Green estimates a dramatic percentage shift in who attends Newberry’s Adult Education classes. The student body went from being 80 percent teenagers to 75 percent of the student body being older than age 21.

In Dominick’s class there is only one teen. The rest are adults, some gray-haired.

And with books open under them and clear goals before them, they’re focused.

“I like this setting. Everybody is pretty much friendly and just like you: looking for an education and looking to better myself,” says Dominick’s classmate Dina Milner, who wants a GED to climb from emergency medical volunteer to an emergency medical technician.

“These folks, they know what they want and they know to come in and make the most of their time to get it,” says Griffin, their GED instructor.

’It feels better’

But a GED has other perks tucked in besides better jobs and better pay.

Charles Vannoy of Newberry slipped into the GED fast track last fall after spotting an open door.

As a Newberry College employee, Vannoy doesn’t work during the summer months or long stretches during the holidays when many college students are away.

During these breaks, he is, in a sense, “laid off.” He found out about the GED program at the One Stop Workforce Center and followed through.

“The opportunity just fell in my lap,” he says.

He started the GED program in late September and passed the exam in mid-November.

But though earning his GED didn’t bring more pay or a better job title, for Vannoy it was worth his time.

To have a GED, he says, “it feels better.”

want yours?

Principal of Adult Education David Green says GED hopefuls enter the school wanting to know two things: what they have to do to get their GED, and how long it takes.

New students take a reading and math test to see which of the school’s three classes they fit best in.

That first math and reading test proves some are already ready for their GED test, so some immediately schedule time for their exam, and attend a few weeks of classes, especially working on the essay portion of the GED to prepare, says Green.

Many students, however, after the initial reading and math test, move into one of three classes. Students can take a test every six weeks to see if they can move up to the next class.

They work their way up to the highest GED class, which ushers them into taking the actual test.

They can then take a practice exam that covers math, reading, writing, social studies and science, “the same required five subjects areas for a high school diploma,” Green says.

Students who are ready for the exam schedule an appointment with the State Department of Education.

That’s the process. The grunt work is up to students.

“Self motivation is the key to getting your GED,” says Green. “It’s hard to predict the amount of time. I tell them this is on their shoulders. We have great teachers, but they have to do the work themselves.”

And the GED is a tough test that Green says is regularly given to high school seniors headed for graduation.

Forty percent of high school students must fail the test before the American Council on Education that develops the exam knows its tough enough, says Green.

The GED process costs $60, though most of the students in Griffin’s GED class report they attend for free because of financial aid. Some are even compensated for gas mileage.

The GED exam costs $80 to take, but a decision being discussed in legislature now could cut that fee.

“That would be a big plus,” says Green. “Some (students) really have to struggle.”

For more information call 321-2112.

GED 411

Morning classes: Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m.–noon

Night classes: Tuesday and Thursday, 5:30–8 p.m.

There are five sessions for the ’09-’10 school year with only one full session left in the year.

Day students are allowed to enter class only at the beginning of a session. Students must pre-register and pre-test prior to entering class at the beginning of a session. Pre-registration and pre-testing are each Tuesday from 9 a.m. to noon.

The deadline for day students to register for the last session of this school year is April 30.

Night classes are not divided into sessions. New nighttime students can start the first day of class each month. Students attending night class can pre-register and pre-test any Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. during the school year.