LYNN — The adult education and training program Pathways will celebrate this year’s graduates on June 13 at the Common’s gazebo.
Executive Director Josh Shepherd said this is the 47th year Pathways has been open in the city. This year’s ceremony will include 30 students receiving their High School Equivalency Test and General Education Development credentials and 15 who completed Pathways’ English program.
“Those numbers will still change a little bit because people are still taking tests and hopefully the numbers will go up,” Shepherd said.
Pathways’ curriculum is approved and funded by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Shepherd said the average age of students is 34 years old.
“Students come to us to learn English who grew up in another country… They come to us for a full school year to learn reading, writing, speaking, listening in English and to get a better life for themselves and for their families,” Shepherd said. “They come nine hours a week for an entire school year, so it’s a lot of dedication and determination,”
Most students in the program have children, families, multiple jobs, or other life activities that can sometimes stop adults from going back to school.
“The graduation ceremony is really a celebration of their accomplishments,” Shepherd said. “Coming to school for a full school year… It’s a lot of work. And our students are working one job or two jobs and getting paid minimum wage, but they’re determined to make a better life for themselves. So it’s really a celebration of that and their efforts.”
Shepherd said some students received a high-school, or even up to a graduate, degree in their home country, but need to learn English. Other students never went to school past the third grade, so they work on getting their High School Equivalency.
Currently, there is a one- to two-year waitlist to get into Pathways’ beginner English classes.
“There are so many people here in Lynn who need English classes, or their High School Equivalency to get a better job. When more people in Lynn get a better job, it helps everyone in the city. They pay more taxes, they’re better able to communicate with their kids’ teachers or their doctors, and take care of themselves, and then their kids do better because their parents are better able to provide for them,” Shepherd said.
The graduation ceremony will begin at 5:30 p.m.
“The ripple effects of a student graduating from our program impact generations at many, many levels,” Shepherd said.
