GED students get books through grant

The Cape Girardeau Adult Education and Literacy Program was awarded a $10,000 grant from the Dollar General Literacy Foundation in early May. The grant will be used to purchase updated textbooks to help students prepare for the GED test.

Nancy Branson, adult education and literacy coordinator, said many aspects of the GED test recently changed. The new test will include more questions about current events and students will use a different format to answer certain math questions. Branson said that the Adult Learning Center has only been able to buy one set of the new textbooks because of budget restrictions in the school district.

"Every year," Branson said, "through Cape Girardeau, the program averages 1,000 students over a six-county area. Not all of these students are working toward their GED, but 100 to 120 students earn their GED each year."

With the grant, Branson believes that the program will be able to buy about 600 new books. According to Branson, the books will be ordered July 1.

Branson said that the books and program are important to the students because having a GED opens many doors that are closed when someone without a high school diploma applies for a job.

"This opens that first door for an interview," Branson said. She said that statistics show that people with a GED have opportunities for an increased income over adults without any high school equivalent degree.