Mark Cooksey was the student guest speaker for Calvert’s 2018 Adult Education commencement.
Prince Frederick, MD – A crowd of well-wishers and mentors attended a brief ceremony at the College of Southern Maryland (CSM) to honor 15 cap and gown-clad adults for a long-delayed milestone. The Calvert County Adult Education Graduation was held Tuesday, Oct. 23 at CSM’s Prince Frederick Campus. There were 24 graduates of the county’s 2017-2018 school year program.
“This is the moment you’ve been waiting your whole life for,” declared CSM President Dr. Maureen Murphy. The attainment of a Maryland high school diploma, said Murphy, was evidence of the graduates’ “persistence and success. Now you’re ready for the next challenge.”
Mark Cooksey, the student guest speaker for the commencement, shared his story of preparing for the next challenge. Cooksey explained that as a young student his speech problem made him reticent about giving answers in classes when called upon, even though he knew most of the answers. “Unfortunately, that just isolated me farther away from everyone and drove me to become bored with school,” said Cooksey. As a teenager, he was expelled from school, driving him into the workforce. While he had a solid work ethic, Cooksey stated, “when you do not have the education that others have, you feel a sense of worthlessness and incompleteness.”
After years of trying to conceal the fact that he had no high school diploma, Cooksey made up his mind to take the steps necessary after he sensed attaining his “dream job” was in peril. “I was tired of my education being my Achilles heel and holding me back,” he said. “I was going to do this for my family and me.” He explained his fears were allayed by the helpful staff of professionals. He thanked Trudy Rice, his program advisor, stating she “helped grow my confidence and I became outgoing and eager to learn.”
A program that has changed lives has also undergone some changes, all of them done in a fairly seamless fashion. During the O’Malley Administration, Maryland’s Adult Education programs were moved from the purview of the State Department of Education (MSDE) to the Department of Labor Licensing and Regulation (DLLR) within the Division of Workforce Development and Adult Learning. The aim was to grow the state’s workforce through education. Locally, Adult Education had been the purview of Calvert County Public Schools (CCPD). Retired CSM Vice President Dr. Richard Fleming worked with the college’s Continuing Education and Workforce Development Program to make the college the provider for the Adult Basic Education/General Education Diploma (GED) program in Calvert and St. Mary’s counties. Fleming told TheBayNet.com that CSM officials then worked with Calvert County Public Schools’ (CCPS) administrators to make the transition. “They [CCPS] agreed we would take over the program,” said Fleming, who added that the program’s entire eight-member staff was transferred as well. Calvert’s Adult Education program includes instruction in reading, writing, math, English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) and GED preparation. The CSM program’s local partners include CCPS, along with the Calvert County Detention Center (two of the 2018 graduates included former detention center inmates), Calvert County Library, and The Judy Center.
In addition to local funding, the program is supported by DLLR and U.S. Department of Education grants.
Fleming also had some grant money to present to graduate Lisa Beruti in the form of a $500 scholarship.
The Adult Education program, said DLLR Adult Instructional Services Chief Dr. Ellen N. Beattie, “changes the lives of our participants. You should feel amazing for what you have accomplished.”
Contact Marty Madden at marty.madden@thebaynet.com
