Messick closing expands Hope Works’ GED role in Shelby County.

Messick closing expands Hope Works’ GED role

Twenty-seven-year-old Lakisha Williams took a few months off from high school equivalency classes this spring, but her teenage nieces were keeping her studies on track until life allowed her to go back to school.

She fully intended to return to the Shelby County Schools program for adults to earn a high school or equivalent diploma, but in February, the closing of Messick Adult Center ended her program.

“I saw it on the news and I was like, ‘What am I going to do now?’ ” said Williams, who dropped out of Melrose High in the 10th grade.

Williams searched for a backup and found HopeWorks, attending her first class Thursday. Her goal: Finish before her baby is due in August.

“That’s giving me motivation to go ahead and get done with this,” she said.

Williams is one of 578 students who transferred from Messick to HopeWorks after SCS lost state funding for the program.

Since then, HopeWorks, led by Executive Director Ron Wade, is carrying the majority of the burden for adult education in Shelby County.

“We’re the safety net, I think,” Wade said.

Citing low enrollment and graduation rates at Messick Adult Center, the state revoked about $800,000 of funding from SCS, which was operating the high school equivalency program on 75 percent of a Department of Labor and Workforce Development grant. HopeWorks had the other 25 percent, and the remainder of SCS’s

PhoToS By STAn CArroll/The CoMMerCiAl AppeAl Adult educator Almeda luster leads a math class at hopeWorks. After the state revoked Shelby County Schools’ funding for Messick, hopeWorks took over the contract and has had to expand to accommodate the increased student population.

Valarie Matthews (left) teaches a class on early reading at hopeWorks. now that SCS has closed Messick Adult Center, a handful of other organizations in town are tasked with absorbing students who are seeking a GeD program.