Area adult education offers new opportunities

Adelia Singleton
May 13, 2011
Online deal offers local biz boost
May 17, 2011
Adelia Singleton
May 13, 2011
Online deal offers local biz boost
May 17, 2011

Yvette Bekalemba is preparing to take her GED final exam. The 45-year-old divorced mother of five is originally from Gabon, in west central Africa, where she was raised, received a college degree in education, got married and had her first three children.


When her then-husband received a scholarship to attend Nicholls State University, the family moved to the Tri-parish region and added two more children to their numbers.


Bekalemba spoke French as her first language. She quickly learned that a lack of English speaking and writing skills and her foreign education were not of much value in a new country and culture.

After she and her husband divorced, he returned to Africa while Bekalemba was left in Louisiana, qualified to take daycare jobs, and eventually decided to be a “home mom” until her children were old enough for her to pursue advancing her own prospects. With three children in college and two at home, she recognized her opportunity was now.


“It has always been my desire to go back to school,” Bekalemba said as she spoke of completing her current academic ventures and moving on to work on a nursing degree.


Bekalemba’s story might not be typical of all students at Bayou Cane Adult Education Center, but neither are the experiences and situations of anyone else.

According to education center director Marilyn Schwartz, students there are far from limited to the assumed high school dropouts who later realized they should have stayed in school.


“It is difficult to say what is typical, because out of the 1,200 people we serve, the oldest one is 73 and the youngest is 16,” Schwartz said in attempting to describe the student census. “They have a whole variety of reasons and stories [as to why] they don’t have an exit diploma from high school. Some of it was disinterest. Some of it was social circumstance, having to go to work or having children to support. They have a myriad of reasons to come back. They want to help their kids with homework. They want a better job. This is something that is a personal goal for them.”


The Bayou Cane Adult Education Center is operated through the Terrebonne Parish School District, is primarily federally and state funded, and is one of 45 such facilities in Louisiana.

“Adult ed … it is for anyone who is no longer in the K-12 system,” Schwartz said. “We are given a quota to address that is 5 percent of the adults over the age of 25 that do not have high school diplomas. Our quota for that population this year is 982. Last year, we serviced about 1,300 [people]. This year it will probably be 1,250.”


Schwartz said the anticipated decline in adult education students is the result of state laws having changed that bumped the legal dropout age to 18 rather than its previous level at 17 years.


The Bayou Cane Adult Education Center offers a variety of programs from basic GED preparedness and testing, to lessons in English as a second language, classes in mathematics and language, child development and parenting classes.

“We have a family literacy program in which students that have children can bring their children to be enrolled,” Schwartz said. “We do basic early childhood [training] with them and we teach them colors, letters and basic skills. The children in that program range in age as young as two months to about three years.”


Little ones are not in a daycare where they are simply dropped off for the day. Parents of the children must also be students in adult programs.


One of the most popular classes is English as a Second Language. In this training, instructors like Norma Donaldson take a room of 30 to 40 students from different cultures and with different language skills from different countries, and by offering stories and real life conversation instructs them into developing a functional level of English.

“When you don’t know the language, it is like a barrier,” Bekalemba said. “You have to find your way.”


Learning the language is a first step in taking other classes and being able to ultimately master GED lessons. Schwartz said the ultimate goal is to help each student improve at least one level and become able to function to the degree that they can support their families.


After initial testing, most students are set up on an educational prescription, which addresses their specific educational needs at specific grade levels. A good deal of individual teaching takes place in addition to full classrooms for math, English and language training.

The adult education program had up until this year been listed as governed by the state Department of Education. Now it is part of the Louisiana Community and Technical College System.

Last month, the LCTCS announced an initiative to link adult education centers with technical and community colleges as a way to encourage those passing through the basic education programs to further develop their skills along career specific paths. Louisiana is one of 11 states that have established this arrangement.

“There will be a growing focus for us to interact with Fletcher [Technical Community College] for career development interacting with GED and with Career Solutions for Workforce Development to transition people from GED [programs] in preparation to a career path,” Schwartz said.

“We have been working closely over the last year to provide a seamless transition for the adult education program into the LCTCS system,” said Fletcher Chancellor Travis Lavigne.

“You will see more of the idea that this should be a way into a family supporting occupation,” Schwartz added.

Schwartz, as well as approximately 20 other full and part time employees, is no stranger to the public school system. Schwartz herself has been a high school principal and worked with at-risk students. Her greatest challenge now is often to keep students encouraged about what they can accomplish.

“In many cases [adult education students are more motivated],” Schwartz said. “But they don’t have to be here. So if they get discouraged, it is easier for them to just not come back.”

Duties for those working in adult education centers tend to be broader than in typical public schools as their facility and staff functions as a liaison between secondary schools, community colleges and the general population.

Their school year is constant and student intakes are performed almost weekly. “We consider ourselves a service that is available five days a week from 8 a.m. until 11 a.m., and 12 p.m. until 3 p.m.,” Schwartz said while adding that night courses are also available.

With an annual operating budget of between $400,000 and $500,000, the Bayou Cane Adult Education Center is primarily dependent on grants for financial survival. While public schools are set up to receive additional funding and teachers if their student populations increase, teachers and staff at this facility have to work with what they already have available when their numbers take a boost.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 67.1 percent of adults 25-plus years in Terrebonne Parish have high school diplomas. In Lafourche Parish, those that completed traditional high school studies represent 66.3 percent of the population over 25, and that number drops to 65.9 percent in St. Mary Parish. Educators contend this statistic alone justifies the need for adult learning centers.

“Any community that has substantial numbers of people without high school diplomas holds a community back,” said Terrebonne Parish School Superintendent Philip Martin. “Many people for many reasons were not able to get high school diplomas through traditional means, and the only option available to them is the adult education path.”

Martin said that annually up to 140 individuals complete their basic K-12 education through the Bayou Cane Adult Education Center.

“I think it is very significant for the health of any community to be able to provide that service,” Martin said. “We’re pleased to be able to do it.”

Tonight, up to 75 adults are expected to don caps and gowns and participate in graduation ceremonies of the Bayou Cane Adult Education Center. It is an accomplishment that Schwartz identified as being something some participants thought they were unable to achieve.

“It’s like starting over,” Bekalemba said. “You have to be able to communicate with people about what you want and your expectations. My first goal was my kids. I pushed them to go to college and have the education. Now I can take a seat and go back to school.”

As graduation season gets under way, some students in the traditional education population will see it as a first step into adulthood. Many adults will view it as an ultimate goal that has been accomplished. All those involved will be better because of it.

Yvette Bekalemba prepares to take her GED. The Bayou Cane Adult Education Center benefits her as a college educated immigrant who found herself in a situation of starting over while raising children in a new country. MIKE NIXON