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More than 20 individuals get their GED diplomas at WKCTC July 10 |
Walking across the stage at West Kentucky Community & Technical
College to get her General Education Development diploma
was just one of the goals Bea Gibson Chester was proud
to accomplish on July 10.
The other accomplished
goal took place in the parking lot at the college not
long after she received her GED diploma, when the 88-year-old
Paducahan got the ride of her life in an 18-wheeler.
Chester, “Ms. Bea” as
she is known, was one of more than 20 individuals who
received their GED diplomas during the spring semester
after getting assistance from the adult education program
at WKCTC on July 20. Ms. Bea recently received a legislative
citation in the form of an Esteemed Citizen Academic
Achievement Award as one of the oldest individuals to
ever earn a GED in Kentucky.
 Ms.
Bea faced many obstacles to get her GED including her
health. She must be on oxygen and needed assistance getting
to the adult education classes at WKCTC’s Anderson Technical Building. But Ms. Bea said she was determined to get her GED. “And when I make up my mind to do something, I’m
going to do it.”
 More
individuals are seeking to get their GEDs in McCracken
County. Last Spring, WKCTC’s adult education program
had 53 graduates versus 68 now. The program, which provides
one-on-one assistance to prepare students to take the
GED test, has seen a total of 117 get their GEDs in 2007-2008.
Betty
Myrick, director of the adult education program, said
some students need a brief review of three or four weeks
before they take the test and others need more time. “We
have the official practice test, which has half the number
of questions on it as the real test but it is a very
good indicator of how someone will do on the real test.”
The adult education
program offers free GED classes at the Workplace Skills
Center in Kentucky Oaks Mall and in the Skills Enhancement
Center in WKCTC’s Anderson Technical Building. READ KY is also at the McCracken County Public Library on Mondays & Wednesdays
from 4-7 p.m.
Ms. Bea first sought
help at the adult education program in September 2007,
and told personnel at that she had four goals in life.
First, to get married which she did, though it took her
7 ½ years to convince
her longtime boyfriend, Fulton Gibson, a graduate of
Heath High School. Married on November 26, 1945, her
husband died in March 1986.
Six years later, she
married Orville Chester. Throughout her life, Ms. Bea
worked to accomplish her second goal, which was to visit
all 50 states. She started her quest in 1927 when she
traveled from Kentucky to Illinois. It ended in 1998
when she visited Alaska.
After her second had
to be put in a nursing home, Ms. Bea decided she wanted
to accomplish her third goal, which was to get her GED.
She grew up during the Great Depression and quit school
after the ninth grade to help support her family, which
included seven brothers and sisters.
It wasn’t an
easy journey to complete her goal. At one point while
she was preparing to take the test she became ill and
the doctors had told her family that she was dying, Ms
Bea said. She ended up in a nursing home for 15 months
and had to start all over with her GED preparation when
she was well.
“I found the loveliest bunch of people and instructors over at the college in the Anderson Building. They are just sweethearts” Ms. Bea said. “They
are the friendliest people and bend over backwards. They
were very, very good to me.”
 Ms. Bea worked for the
state of California as a bookkeeper, and also was a proofreader
and bookkeeper at Paducah Printing Company for 15 years.
A 61-year member of the Eastern Star, Ms. Bea was a Deputy
Grand Matron in 1966 and 1967 and was Grand Marshal for
the state of Kentucky in 1967 and 1968. She has been
Worthy Matron six times.
Myrick said Ms. Bea
was an inspiration to the other individuals who were
seeking their GEDs because she worked hard at the college
and at home. “She always has been a big inspiration to the younger people in our classes over there. They all kind of adopted her. They would bring her treats and they would carry her books. They were really inspired by Bea being in the classes and going back at her age. If she could do it, they knew they could too.” Myrick
said.
Ms. Bea said those individuals
who aren’t sure they should go back and get their GED should just “Absolutely try it, for nothing more than the pride you get in yourself. That’s
what kept me going.”
For more information
on FREE GED preparation classes or READ KY, call the
Workplace Skills Center at 554-6224 or the Skills Enhancement
Center at 534-3451. |
