Ceremony pays tribute to ‘life-long learners'

Friday, Oct. 23, 2009

Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photos by DARWIN WEIGEL Charles Bearns shakes the hand of Calvert County Public Schools Superintendent after receiving his high school diploma to loud cheers from family and friends Wednesday night at the 15th annual Adult Education Graduation Ceremony at Huntingtown High School. E-Mail This Article | Print This Story Click here to enlarge this photo Marjorie Zimmermann, left, stepped up to offer support to Lori Bradford of Huntingtown when she choked up telling her story. Click here to enlarge this photo Graduates wait to march into the ceremony. Click here to enlarge this photo Doralynn Townsend, left, of Prince Frederick and Lori Bradford of Huntingtown were the graduate speakers Wednesday night.

"Hi, Daddy!" "Way to go, Poppy!" "You go, boy!"

This is not a trio of phrases heard together at the average graduation ceremony, but these were no ordinary graduates.

"We didn't plan this … [but] this week was declared Adult Education and Family Literacy Week from the U.S. House of Representatives … so you all are super special," said Coordinator of Adult Education Marjorie Zimmermann at Calvert County Public Schools 15th Annual Adult Education Graduation Ceremony, held Wednesday night at Huntingtown High School.

Thirty-six of the 116 adult graduates were present at what Zimmermann called "a celebration of lifelong learning."

To graduate, Zimmermann told the audience one must either pass the GED exam or complete an external diploma program.

Lori Bradford and Doralynn Townsend, both of whom are going into nursing, were the featured graduates to speak at the ceremony.

Bradford at first was too choked up to begin her speech in which she described working as a truck driver before taking the necessary course work to take the GED.

"I knew driving that truck was not how I wanted to retire," Bradford said through tears in a speech that drew many audience members to their feet.

Townsend, who completed the external degree program, also credited going back to school with getting her out of tough times.

"It gave me the confidence I needed to get my life on track," she said.

Calvert County Public Schools Superintendent Jack Smith spoke at the ceremony, referencing someone very close to him who also once received a high school diploma as an adult: his mother.

"You may think ‘this is just high school' and ‘I've just finished something,' …but [this is] significant … whether you're 18 or 28 or 78," said Smith, who said his mother was in her 60s when she received her high school diploma and still has regrets about not continuing her education in community college.

Richard Fleming, the vice president and dean of the College of Southern Maryland's Prince Frederick campus, said he hoped the students before him would never have these regrets.

"Bask in the glory, all the praises anyone has to say to you, you take it … but I hope you say, ‘I think I'm going to college,'" said Fleming, who continued in his address that, statistically, a community college degree leads to a salary that offers $9,000 more annually than a high school diploma.

He told the graduates that classes at CSM do not start until January, "so you have a few months to rest."

Leonard Howie, the deputy secretary of the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, also spoke at the ceremony and walked to the podium with his cell phone in hand.

"I am not ‘tweeting,' I am not checking e-mail; my remarks are actually on this device," Howie said, drawing laughter from the audience.

On a more serious note, he told the graduates that he hoped they would take advantage of the programs his department offers.

"Our programs are designed so we make the maximum connection to your needs in the workplace," Howie said. " … Continue to keep your mind sharp; lifelong learning is a very good thing."

Two lifelong learners were Narine and Norik Katsakhyan of Dunkirk, a wife and husband who immigrated from Armenia one year ago.

Despite having college and advanced degrees from the Soviet Union, Norik said that taking the GED was what he and his wife, a medical doctor in the Soviet Union, needed to begin their lives in the United States.

"I wanted to continue my education. I'm 60 years old and have more goals," he said after the ceremony.

lbuck@somdnews.com

Graduates

Charles Bearns

Tara Dawn Blossom

Lori Bradford

Brittany Lee Brandstetter

Judith E. Buckingham

Kayla Buckler

Nicole M. Burger

Shakaye Creek

Kelly M. Cusic

Jamie Dorsey

Amelia Dorwart

Byrl A. Gibson

John Greenwell

Joseph Franklin Greenwell

Jeraldine F. Harris

Kathryn Ann Humphreys

Danielle Rena Jerew

Keanna Johnson

Melissa Justice

Narine Katsakhyan

Norik Katsakhyan

Anthony Lee

Ray Long

James McCarthy Jr.

Mike McKibben

Joy R. Meredith

Paul Messinese

Stephanie M. Pletsch

Nadiya Skyrm

Doralynn Townsend

Amanda Michelle Vogan

Timothy Wayne Wedding

Katie Ann Woomer

Andrew Lewis Young