Forsyth Tech celebrates graduation of GED and AHS students
CEREMONY TO BE HELD MAY 22, WAIT CHAPEL, WFU, 7:30 PM
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (May 16, 2008) – Forsyth Tech will celebrate the graduation of 228 students from its General Educational Development (GED) and Adult High School (AHS) programs on Thursday, May 22. The ceremony will be held at Wait Chapel on the Wake Forest University campus at 7:30 p.m.
The graduating class includes 178 GED students, 23 of whom will graduate with honors, and 50 AHS students. The graduates range in age from late teens to late seventies.
This year’s graduation speaker will be Forsyth county native Edwin L. Welch, Jr. Welch, who is president of I.L. Long Construction Co., Inc., a Winston-Salem based general contracting firm, serves the local community in many ways. Currently, he is Vice Chairman of Board of Trustees for Forsyth Tech, Board Member of Forsyth Tech Foundation, Co-Chair of the Momentum Capital Campaign for Forsyth Tech, and Chairman of the Board for the United Way of Forsyth County. This year, Welch was named the Alexis de Tocqueville Leadership Society Award winner for the United Way of Forsyth County.
Dr. Gary Green, President of Forsyth Tech, is proud of this year’s GED and AHS graduates. Included in this group is 79-year-old Ola Mae Venable who, until March of this year, had only completed the 7th grade. “Mrs. Venable will be Forsyth Tech’s oldest GED recipient. She is a remarkable example of how an educational goal is never out of reach. We’re thrilled she chose Forsyth Tech to achieve a life-long dream of receiving her GED.”
The GED testing program, offered by all community colleges in North Carolina, awards a high school equivalency diploma to students who pass all five GED tests. AHS is a distance learning program that emphasizes individualized instruction in core courses required by the public school system along with electives offered by a community college. Students who complete this program successfully receive an AHS diploma.