Adult ed coordinator gets countywide award
Joy Zug had an upbeat message for graduating adult education students Wednesday night at Royal Oak Schools’ Churchill High School.
“I gave a speech about optimism,” said Zug, coordinator for continuing education. “We try to infuse optimism and acceptance into everything we do here. Because people weren’t successful before (in graduating high school) we try to guide them step by step so they complete their full classwork.”
Zug gave her speech a short time after she was recognized with the Community Education Director/Coordinator award for the year from the Oakland
County Community and Adult Educators.
“I was very honored,” she said. “There are many adult ed programs in Oakland County and I’m happy to represent us.”
Zug was nominated for the award by Mary Fleezanis, a counselor at Churchill High School.
In her nomination, Fleezanis said Zug did excellent work in her strategies to help adult students get their GEDs and complete high school.
Fleezanis said Zug is always creating new programs, writing grants for funding and collaborating with other adult ed program coordinators to find ways that Churchill’s students get the best education the second time around.
“Joy never lets a student drop off,” Fleezanis said. “She makes sure we are always contacting them until they complete their degree. Our students have expressed how much we make them feel like a family. Joy makes that happen.”
That work happens at the Churchill Community Education Center, 707 Girard Ave. Programs there include classes for adult education, an alternative high school for those under 19, and students who learn English as a second language.
The adult education programs are funded solely with grants.
As the coordinator for adult ed, Zug does administration work, helps register people, writes grant applications, handles the budget and supervises the teachers.
“We have around 200 students and some of them come here to learn English as a second language,” Zug said.
A former teacher, Zug said the school also works with Oakland County Michigan Works, which helps people find training and jobs.
“We help those who need to learn English and people who didn’t finish high school the first time to be more successfully positioned to join the workforce and get training areas that are needed.”
But education is about more than finding a job for a number of students at Churchill’s adult ed program.
“We have adult students of different ages,” Zug said. “Our oldest graduate this year was a woman, 63. Many people come here to finish up school and feel better about themselves.”