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Many turns lead to GED road

By DONNA WINCHESTER
Published August 18, 2006

ST. PETERSBURG - Two months into his freshman year, Joshua Pedecone learned his mother had cancer.

He lost his focus. His grades slipped. He stopped going to class.

A year and a half later, after she had died, Joshua decided to drop out of Clearwater High School and take an alternate route to a diploma.

His father worried he would become a high school dropout. But Thursday night, the 16-year-old was among the students honored at the Pinellas school district's countywide graduation ceremony at the Mahaffey Theater.

Most had passed the General Educational Development test and received a state of Florida diploma. Like Joshua, more than two dozen were under 18.

As educators across Florida worry about high school dropout rates, more and more young people are pursuing nontraditional paths to a diploma. In many cases, they reach that goal before their peers.

Contrary to popular belief, taking the GED route apparently makes them no less desirable to employers and college admissions directors, educators say.

"It's no piece-of-cake test," said Debby VanderWoude, director at Tomlinson Adult Learning Center. "Something like 40 percent of high school graduates who were administered the test failed it."

While the district supports students who seek alternate paths to graduation, officials do not encourage young people to drop out, VanderWoude said.

"We'd like them to stay in school. But if they can't, we have an alternative for them," she said.

About 17,000 students of all ages attend one of the district's three community schools, three adult education centers and two technical education centers each year, said Laura Sargent, supervisor of adult, community and work force education.

Young people who leave traditional high schools do so for a variety of reasons, Sargent said.

Viktoria Lambert, 17, dropped out of Northeast High because she was two years behind in credits. She admits she wasn't very motivated.

"When I did the work, I did well," she said. "But I was more focused on my friends and being part of a group. By the time I was ready to go back to school, I was too far behind."

At her counselor's suggestion, she enrolled in an in-school GED test prep program at Northeast.

"I only had to do the classes for a week, and I was done. It was really easy."

Things weren't so simple for Sarah Pinnell, a 16-year-old who developed kidney stones and missed most of her freshman year at Dixie Hollins High. After returning to school, she had a hard time fitting in, so she withdrew and started taking adult education classes.

Within eight months, she had passed the GED test at the end of what would have been her sophomore year. Now she's saving money for a car and college, where she hopes to study nursing.

But she wouldn't recommend the same course for everyone.

"Once you're gone, you realize you'll miss the high school experience, the prom and all that stuff," Sarah said.

"All that stuff" is the reason many students who are academically ready to leave high school should stay, said Kathy Paeplow, lead GED teacher at Dixie Hollins Adult Education Center.

"I think we all worry about the 16-year-olds going out into the world with a high school diploma," she said. "We hope that if they use this option, they're going to continue their education, that they're not just going to work."

To learn more

For more information about adult education programs in Pinellas County, call the school district's office of work force education, (727) 588-6094. In Hillsborough County, call (813) 276-5654.

By the numbers

* Students tested this year by Pinellas County Schools' department of adult, community and work force education: 3,307

* Students who passed the GED test and received state of Florida diplomas: 2,184

* Percent of students 16-18 who passed the GED test on their first try: 57

[Last modified August 18, 2006, 06:58:41]