First Tifton Housing Authority GED Grads Gain MTC Grad Status
TIFTON, GA. Just over three years from the start of a partnership between Moultrie Technical College’s (MTC) Adult Education division and the Tifton Housing Authority, the pairing saw its first set of GED program graduates cross the stage Tuesday evening to receive diplomas in credit programs from Georgia’s Technical College System.
Both Bryan Barfield and Velvet Pickett have been residents at the Tifton Housing Authority and needed assistance with obtaining their General Educational Development, or GED, credentials.
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Moultrie Technical College Drafting Technology program graduate Bryan Barfield, left, and Business Administrative Technology program graduate Velvet Pickett, right, had reason to celebrate as the first set graduates from the Tifton Housing Authority’s GED preparation program to also graduate from Moultrie Tech credit programs. The June 14 ceremony represented the largest graduating class processional in the College’s 47-year history. |
The GED preparation program there, which opened in November 2007, was at the ready. The free classes, offered Monday through Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., made it convenient for Barfield and Pickett to get the help they needed under the guidance of MTC Adult Education instructor Veronica Graydon and Housing Authority Executive Director Shaundra Clark.
In December 2008, Barfield passed the GED test and became the first graduate from the Housing Authority’s program with Moultrie Tech.
Graydon says of his work ethic, “Bryan worked through the breaks…he was the first to come and the last to leave. I have seen him blossom from a shy young man to an interacting young man.”
He immediately began taking classes at the MTC Tifton Campus in the Drafting Technology diploma program under instructor Robert Hubbard in 2009. Although shy and quiet, Barfield ingratiated himself to Hubbard who began to trust him enough to hold down the fort in the classroom.
“I always referred to Bryan as ‘Number 1,’ after Star Trek: The Next Generation. If I had to step out for a minute, I would always say, ‘Number 1, you have the com.’ This seemed to help Bryan get over his shyness,” said Hubbard.
Barfield, 27, says he plans to look for employment as a drafter now that he has graduated and recalls of his time at Moultrie Tech’s Tifton Campus by saying, “It’s been a fun ride.”
Pickett, a 28-year-old mother of three children, began working toward her GED diploma in 2008 along with Barfield. She says her children gave her the boost she needed to seek that diploma, especially as she encouraged them to do well in school themselves.
“They would say, ‘Mama, where’s your diploma?’ I always wanted to get my GED diploma. I wanted to be better for my kids,” says Pickett. “From day one, Mrs. Graydon was also a motivation for me to finish. She was more than a teacher to me.”
With what appears to be mutual admiration, Graydon says of Pickett, “Velvet's commitment to our program was exceptional. She would complete a 12-hour employee shift, come to class, and work diligently each day. In addition, she attended her children's school events and conferences.”
With her GED credentials in hand, she enrolled in the Business Administrative Technology (BAT) program at the MTC Tifton Campus in the spring of 2009 under the advisement of BAT instructor Dale Fordham.
“I had great teachers. They were very supportive, and I really enjoyed school,” adds Pickett.
Fordham says, “Velvet was a very dedicated, hard-working and determined student. She was always polite and did excellent work. She was a pleasure to teach.”
Following her graduation from Moultrie Tech’s BAT diploma program, Pickett plans to look for work as a receptionist or in the medical coding field while continuing her education to receive an associate degree through MTC’s cooperative degree program with Abraham Baldwin College.
Barfield and Pickett were among hundreds of their fellow MTC graduates Tuesday night at Withers Auditorium in Moultrie, as the College recognized over 450 allied health, business and computers, personal and public service, and technical and industrial program graduates from its four-county service area of Colquitt, Tift, Turner and Worth.
MTC President Tina Anderson congratulated the winter and spring quarter graduating classes of 2011, which represented the largest class of graduates in the College’s 47-year history. MTC Practical Nursing instructor and 2010-2011 Rick Perkins Instructor of the Year award winner Robin Kern led the faculty, staff and graduate processional as the event’s marshal.
MTC Board of Directors member Brinson Brock of South Georgia Banking Company in Ashburn assisted the College's administration in the conferring of awards.
One of the highlights of the ceremony was the commencement address given by Britt Young, owner of Moultrie’s Chick-fil-A franchise, as he encouraged the graduates to make a positive mark on the world around them by saying, “What you do with what you’ve got is up to you.”
