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In January 1999, Donna Childress made a decision that affected not only her life, but the lives of her teenage daughters as well. Having dropped out of high school as a teenager, Childress had always regretted not earning her high school diploma. When her daughters Julia and Becky Mobley left school, she decided it was time to break the pattern and change all of their tomorrows.
Childress and her daughters enrolled in the Thomas Technical Institute Adult Literacy Program at the Grady County Family Learning Center and started working toward earning their GEDs. Classes at Thomas Tech were offered both in the mornings and evenings to accommodate adult student schedules. Using a variety of books and computer lessons, the women were allowed to proceed at their own pace. Students at the Thomas Tech Adult Education program determine the amount of time they will need in order to complete the program.
|  Donna Childress (center), flanked by
daughters Julia Mobley (left)
and Becky Mobley (right).
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"They all work at their own pace, because they all start at different levels," full-time literacy teacher Ken Slater said. "Completing the program can take a matter of weeks or months."
Resolving to pursue her GED was the easy part. Nineteen years had passed since Donna Childress had been in a classroom. She was almost overwhelmed with anxiety at the thought of returning. However, once inside, her apprehension quickly faded. "I was nervous about going back to school up until the first day," Childress said. "But there were people there my age and older, and we were all interested in the same thing, getting our GEDs."
Childress and her daughter, Becky, chose to attend night school. The payoff after months of sacrifice and hard work came at the end of July when the trio earned their diplomas. Slater, who has taught fathers and sons as well as mothers and daughters, said he is especially proud of the Childress family.
"I have never had a mother and two daughters earn their GEDs at the same time," he said. "This is really outstanding." The threesome stated that they plan to use the $500 HOPE Scholarship vouchers each received toward technical study at Thomas Technical Institute.
Thomas Tech operates GED centers in six locations: Thomasville, Pelham, Camilla, Meigs, Boston, and Cairo. GED classes are free to all interested students. Slater noted that students' ages range from 16 to 84.
"Many of our students have said that earning their GED is something they have always wanted to do for themselves," he stated. "The older students are especially proud of this accomplishment, because they never had a chance to pursue their GEDs until recently."
Melanie Hester
Coordinator of Public Relations
Thomas Technical Institute
Thomasville, Georgia
SDA 18
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