WGTC celebrates GED graduates and entrepreneurship trainees
West Georgia Technical College’s (WGTC) department of adult education recently held a graduation ceremony for 31 incarcerated students at the Coweta County Correctional Institution.
Nine students earned their GED and 22 students completed an Entrepreneurship and Small Business training course (ESB). Students who earned their GED took courses on math, language arts, social studies and science. Students who earned their ESB certification learned about entrepreneurial and small business principles through at least 150 hours of instruction.
“Research shows when individuals that are incarcerated are involved with educational opportunities, recidivism drops,” said Rebecca Wheeler, Dean of Adult Education at WGTC. “It is really important to get into these facilities and provide these programs. This can open so many doors for these individuals, and it allows them to provide for their families and their communities.”
Wheeler said these programs can create new beginnings for anyone that is willing to give it a chance.
“These programs create self-confidence and self-efficacy, and in return it allows these individuals to do more and move onto bigger and better things,” Wheeler said. “Once they get out, there are a lot of second chance employers that are great because they are extremely helpful in creating opportunities.”
According to Wheeler, WGTC is working on expanding the program into jails and reentry programs throughout WGTC’s service delivery area.
“I am extremely proud of our corrections education,” Wheeler said. “Anytime we see any of our adult education students achieve something, it is incredible because we are all about second chances. For those who are incarcerated it hits a little different because they know they have done wrong, and to see them make lemonade out of lemons is pretty inspiring.”
The Keynote Speaker for the graduation ceremony was Dean Alford. Alford spent four years incarcerated at the Coweta County Correctional Institution and was released within the last year. While he was incarcerated, he was the one that got the inmate led GED program started.
“I think the partnership between West Georgia Technical College and the Coweta County Correctional Institution is a blessing because it is giving second chances through education,” Alford said. “This partnership has allowed men to find jobs and promotions that would not be possible without this program.”
Alford said to come back and be the keynote speaker for the program he helped startup was a great honor.
“In my career I have given numerous amounts of speeches, but I cannot remember a time where I was more excited than this,” Alford said. “I am also excited because as these men are getting out, I am giving them help and guidance as they begin their next chapter.”
For more information about WGTC’s Adult Education department, visit westgatech.edu/adult-education
