The Peoria Park District is hosting its annual graduation ceremony for 11 adult learners.
The students recently completed the Peoria Park District Foundation’s free GED program, the Moonlight Coalition, for students who dropped out of high school.
One of those graduates, Bernell Harvey, dropped out 10 years ago. He enrolled in ELITE's re-entry program because he "wanted to make my mom proud." Through that initiative, he met instructor Hedy Elliott, who encouraged him to pursue a GED.
Six months later, he got his GED and is an ELITE compliance officer at Lincoln K-8. Harvey says he wants to motivate kids in similar circumstances as his growing up.
"Some days, some kids went to bed hungry, or maybe mom or dad didn't say 'I love you.' Or sometimes they just woke up on the wrong side of the bed and need someone to talk to," Harvey said.
Harvey says if he had someone at school to motivate him as a kid, his situation might have turned out different.
“Besides my parents there to tell me ‘that’s the wrong way,’ ‘don’t do that,’ or ‘as a matter of fact, because I said so,’” Harvey said, “If I had that rule, I would have been alright.”
Eventually, Harvey says he wants to work in agriculture to help improve access to healthy food.
Hedy Elliott, who also teaches at Lincoln, says the entire community stands to benefit from having more people acquire their GED’s, whether they dropped out two years ago or two decades ago.
“Once they obtain that, the city will really feel the benefit because they get into the workforce, they’re paying taxes,” Elliott said. “It’s a huge benefit for the entire community, not just for the people who are obtaining the diplomas.”
And for some, Elliott says, the learning doesn’t end here. Three of the eleven graduates are already taking college courses to earn a bachelor’s degree.
The Park District Foundation’s Moonlight Coalition for Adult Learning graduation ceremony is Tues. at 6pm at Proctor Center.