West Hartford adult education holds graduation ceremony

The West Hartford Adult Education Adult Education Program held its annual high school completion graduation ceremony at the Town Hall auditorium on November 13.  The ceremony honored twenty-five adult learners who finished the National External Diploma Program (NEDP) and ten students who earned a GED diploma certificate from the State of Connecticut.

Board of Education member Terry Schmitt first addressed the graduates briefly, noting that the education they have obtained through hard work can never be taken away from them.  Board member Mark Zydanowicz recounted his own path of education, work and armed service participation, learning at each step of the way that education is a never-ending process.   

Graduating student Tamia Murray gave a heartfelt speech about his life journey and the many difficulties he has come through to get to a new path that education allows him to pursue.

This was the twentieth graduation ceremony for the NEDP program in West Hartford, which allows adults to work one-on-one with an advisor on a series of assignments and activities that demonstrate mastery of high school-level material.  The program expanded last year with the help of a State of Connecticut grant to allow residents of eight surrounding towns to also participate in the West Hartford program.  

 This year graduates included residents of Farmington and Bloomfield.