CALDWELL, Texas (KRHD) — The Harrie P. Woodson Memorial Library saw an increase in the number of teens signed up for its GED and Adult Basic Education programs, and they're utilizing community mentors to keep them motivated.
- Most students attending the classes are between the ages of 15 and 19 years old.
- Factors that contribute to drop out include race, gender, economic status and non-English speaking backgrounds.
- The library is utilizing local mentors like recent program graduates to motivate students to earn their GED.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Hilario Jaimes recently dropped out of high school.
"I dropped out because of family issues," he said.
But it's not stopping him from getting an education at the Harrie P. Woodson Library in Caldwell.
"My goal with this program is to finish my GED, get my GED within a year or less," Jaimes said.
Library manager Heidi Frazier says their adult education programs are seeing more students around his age.
"These are minors 15 to 19 years old who can no longer be served by the public school system," she said.
They often fall through the cracks of the education system —
"There's no agency able to in our area that's serving them in order for them to finish their education," Frazier said.
Because of factors like gender, race and economic status.
About two of every 10 Texas students have dropped out every year since the pandemic.
They get to go from some of them hating the educational experience or having some of the worst experiences possible with education to be excited to come to class," Ashton Bostic, the adult education program coordinator, said.
So how does the library keep them motivated?
"We are having a lot of success with our peer mentorship group or peer mentorship program that's being ran by volunteers," Bostic said.
And a little help from recent graduates.
"Michelle, she really helps me a lot and it's very helpful. If I didn't have it, I don't think I would get through this," Jaimes said.
"It's great to have students that want to help or students that came back that want to help because that means that we can build a better and better program," Bostic said.
