SCOTT CITY WOMAN PURSUES GED THROUGH VO-TECH PROGRAM

Evelyn Stinson had a choice: Get married or seek to obtain her GED. Stinson chose the latter.

"If I had gotten married, I probably would have had two kids by now," the 18-year-old Scott City woman said.

Instead, she studies four days a week through the Adult Basic Education program at the Cape Girardeau Vocational-Technical School. Her goal is to get a General Educational Development diploma by next August.

She has thoughts of being a beautician, a bartender or even a singer.

"Right now, I am doing English and spelling and math. This summer, I worked with the computers." The Learning Center at the school has a number of computers, which ABE students can use.

Stinson's family moved around a lot when she was growing up. She attended various schools through the fourth grade, after which her mother decided to teach her at home.

Stinson ended up suffering academically because she wasn't in a regular classroom setting. She currently is in foster care, as are her brother and three sisters.

Through the efforts of her Division of Family Services caseworker, Stinson started in the ABE program last fall. But she soon quit. After a month, however, she returned to the vo-tech school to resume her studies.

"I just think, `Well, I can do this.'"

Stinson admits she misses being able to attend regular high school classes with her friends.

Some students, she says, don't realize how lucky they are to be in school. "I tell kids all the time, `Don't give up, stay in school.'"

A student has to be at least 16 years old to pursue a GED. "We don't ever encourage a youngster to drop out of public school," said Susan Clubb, Adult Basic Education coordinator.

The Adult Basic Education program serves about 1,300 people a year in five counties: Cape, Scott, Stoddard, Bollinger and Perry. About 700 of the students attend full time during the course an academic year.

Most of them enroll in the program to obtain a GED degree. "That really is our primary goal," said Clubb. The program is funded with state and federal money.

"There is no fee for studying toward a GED, only a fee of $20 to take the exam," said Clubb. Southeast Missouri State University receives $9 of the fee for administering the five-part test and mailing it to Jefferson City, where it is graded.

Last month, 70 people, who had taken the test over the past academic year, received their GEDs in a graduation ceremony.

Annually, on average, about 50 area residents receive their GEDs.

Most colleges and vocational schools in the United States recognize the GED as a high-school-equivalent diploma.

The GED program began after World War II as a way for servicemen to finish their high school education. But it wasn't until the late 1960s that Adult Basic Education blossomed in the state of Missouri.

"The state of Missouri realized there was a need for all people to finish school," said Clubb.

The GED program is only one component of Adult Basic Education. Another part is the English As a Second Language program, which helps persons from other countries learn the language.

Participants have included relatives of international students at Southeast Missouri State University, as well as wives of executives with the Biokyowa plant, a Japanese-owned manufacturing plant in Cape Girardeau.

A third part of ABE is the literacy program, which provides tutors for individuals, who read and write below the fifth grade level.

A fourth program helps persons, who have been out of high school or graduated with a GED at least two years previously, study for their college entrance exams.

Clubb operates ABE with a staff of 20 full-time and part-time assistants, along with about 25 trained volunteers.

The learning center in Room 113 of the vocational-technical school is open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Beginning Sept. 19, it will be open from 6 to 9 p.m., Monday through Thursday.

Unlike regular school, individuals can begin ABE studies at any time. "There are no semesters, no quarters," said Clubb. "We are open almost all the time."