Sierra Vista Offers GED Program for Parents and Community
Reno, NV (March 7, 2011) - Sierra Vista Elementary School parent Marisol Arellano is ready to receive a general education diploma (GED) that counts in the United States after having already received a degree in Mexico that is not recognized in this country. The school's principal, Jonna AuCoin, is proud of Arellano, a mother of four with two children attending Sierra Vista, for taking initiative.
"For me, it's very important," said Arellano, who currently is not working but hopes to find a job and assist her children after receiving her diploma. "If I get my GED, I can help my kids with their homework and be more involved with what's going on with them."
Through Wells Fargo's Grant a Wish grant, provided by the Nevada Public Education Foundation, four teachers at the Reno school are offering a 12-week GED prep course for parents and community members who have not received a high school diploma. The grant from Wells Fargo gives Sierra Vista $3,000 for the program, which covers teachers' salaries and a portion of the course fee.
The classes are being held on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. and participants also study for two hours on their own throughout the rest of the week, making the course a minimum of a six-hour weekly commitment. The class alternates locations between a Washoe County library and Sierra Vista's own computer lab.
The cost of the test is $65. Members who sign up for the class are asked to pay $30 to hold them accountable. The remaining $35 is covered by the grant. If the participant does not pass the test the first time, however, the cost of any subsequent tests taken is covered for one year.
Classes started on March 1 with quite a bit of interest from parents and community members as nearly two dozen showed for the first night.
"They just want to do so well," said Sierra Vista dean Michon Pincolini, describing how the participants stayed hours beyond their designated time on the first two days because they were so intent on preparing for the GED test. "With the economy the way it is, it's excellent timing because there are parents laid off and this gives them something to do during the day that makes them feel good about themselves. I think this ultimately affects the kids at home and the parents are being good role models."
The teachers at Sierra View say they will accept as many as want to come to learn the core subjects in which they will be tested - math, language arts, science and social studies. Those who are not eligible for taking the GED prep course after taking a test will be placed in a pre-GED adult basic skills class, also offered in Spanish, that offers extra support for limited English speakers or those not quite ready for the actual test. That class teaches students basic concepts, such as fractions and decimals.
Sierra Vista staff discovered a large interest in having such a program available through its home visits to get children back into school as well as through adult study circles to help those kids.
"It seemed there was such a need and if you really want to be a community center, which we really want Sierra Vista to be, that we'd need to offer these classes," AuCoin said. "We were just focusing on our kids in home visits, but when we talked to older kids, they told us their parents had dropped out and really wanted to go back to school."
Computers have been supplied by ComputerCorp.org, which has refurbished computers for Sierra Vista at a reduced cost of $93 per machine. Sierra Vista will hold an event on March 25 at 3:15 p.m. at which 15 computers will be distributed to students who have enrolled in the "Every Home 'A' Classroom" program and completed a 15-hour computer training program.
The NNLC, which is also helping to support the GED program, has been relying on grant money to help supplement GED programs in schools such as Sierra Vista, but it's possible that the economic crisis may leave this program without funding. AuCoin said she hopes the NNLC will continue to fund the GED program.
"The focus of the District obviously has been the strategic plan and to have more kids graduate - every child, by name and face, to graduation," AuCoin said. "You don't want to forget about the parents because I think if we can support our parents in obtaining their education, it's only going to be a win-win for our kids. They're going to see the value, they're going to get the jobs, their pay is going to go up and the way they live is going to improve."
About Washoe County School District: The Washoe County School District includes the Reno/Sparks metropolitan area, Incline Village, Gerlach, Empire and Wadsworth, Nevada. The District provides each of its 63,000 students with a superior education in a safe and challenging environment and is committed to graduate every child career and college ready. For more information visit www.washoecountyschools.org. Follow us on Twitter at WCSDTweet.
Washoe County School District
425 East Ninth Street
Reno, NV 89520
