PCC Celebrates High School Equivalency Graduates
50th Anniversary of Adult Basic Education Program
May 28, 2019
Tucson, AZ – Pima Community College will celebrate the students who earned their Arizona High School Equivalency (HSE) diploma and 50th anniversary of the Adult Basic Education program in a ceremony at 7 p.m., May 31 at the Tucson Convention Center Music Hall.
- Who: Approximately 100 graduates
- What: PCC Adult Basic Education for College & Career celebrates students receiving an HSE diploma and 50 years of providing adult basic education opportunities
- When: 7 p.m., May 31
- Where: Music Hall, Tucson Convention Center, 260 S. Church Ave.
- Speaking:
- HSE graduates Cassandra Spooner and Matthew Taylor have been selected as the student speakers
- Former Adult Basic Education administrators Jerome King and Greg Hart will be the keynote speakers at the event
HSE graduates Cassandra Spooner and Matthew Taylor will talk about how Pima’s GED preparation classes changed their lives.
Cassandra, 51, who is also enrolled in Pima’s Medical Assistant IBEST program, ran away from home and dropped out of high school as a sophomore after learning she was pregnant. Looking for work, she found out she couldn’t get the job that she wanted without a high school diploma or GED. “The hardest thing was making the decision to push past my fears and finish the program,” she said. “I am so glad that I did…it is the most amazing feeling in the world.”
Matthew, who fell into the foster care system at age 16, went into hiding and dropped out of high school to avoid foster care. “Having made it through homelessness, I know I can do anything I set my mind to,” he said. “I enrolled in Pima’s GED program, and from that day on I knew I was destined to succeed.”
Former Adult Education administrator Jerome King, who was instrumental in solidifying adult education in Pima County, and former Adult Education administrator Greg Hart, who led the Adult Education program through an important transition from the Pima County School Superintendent’s office to Pima Community College, will speak about the history and impact of adult education.
For 50 years, PCC’s Adult Basic Education program has provided basic literacy to high school equivalency-level classes, English language instruction and testing, serving more than 6,000 students and many more testers every year. For more information on Pima’s GED/HSE preparation classes and testing, contact 206-7330.
CONTACT:
Media, Government and Community Relations
(520) 206-4778