Eastern Kentucky University’s Garrard County Adult Education Program was recently recognized by the Kentucky Adult Education organization as the sixth best overall program of its kind in the state.
For county-level adult education programs to earn this distinction, they must meet or exceed certain pre-determined goals each month. EKU’s Garrard County program achieved or exceeded its goals in the areas of student academic achievement, GED obtainment and the number of National Career Ready Certifications earned from July to September.
Catherine Beechie, lead instructor for the EKU Garrard County Adult Education Program, credits the program’s high ranking to the motivation of the students, as well as the commitment of the program’s instructors to offer efficient and supportive learning opportunities.
“We create a partnership of learning with our students that empowers them to take charge of their own education journey,” Beechie said. “We do our best to assist our students in developing goals and plans for the future.”
“The EKU Adult Education programs are here to support students to achieve their academic and career goals,” said Dr. Paula Jones, director of EKU’s Adult Education Program. “This continues to be a true partnership between our students and our instructors. We hope that through this recognition, others will see the value of our programs and we will have the opportunity to serve more adults in Garrard County.”
EKU’s Adult Education programs in Clay, Garrard and Madison counties offer a variety of test preparation and education credential services designed to improve the overall educational level of adults. One of the main goals of the program is to support adults in becoming college ready. To do so, the programs offer math and language arts support courses to EKU students at no charge. The free courses allow current students to advance their skills and test up through or out of development-level courses.
In addition, the EKU Adult Education Program offers GED classes to adults in the community, and work-ready certifications such as the National Career Ready Certification, Kentucky Paraeducator Certification, Job Ready Skills and ACT prep courses. All services and classes are provided at no charge to current EKU students or residents of Clay, Garrard or Madison counties.
The Madison and Clay County programs are ranked in the top 55 programs in the state, out of a total of 120 adult education programs in Kentucky.
“To have all three EKU Adult Education programs in the top half of all the programs in the state, with one of our programs ranked in the top six, is quite an accomplishment,” Jones said. “Our EKU adult education instructors are the foundation of this program. We look forward to serving more students and achieving even higher goals in the coming weeks.”