Clock ticking for students taking GEDs

By Eric Stevick

Herald Writer

As the day gets closer, the lines become longer and more anxious.

It’s not Christmas shopping but the exams to earn a GED, or General Educational Development certificate, that are bringing droves of people to testing centers at local community colleges these days.

The GED gives adults who didn’t finish high school a chance to show they have gained the skills and knowledge of high school graduates, but the company that furnishes the exams is changing the format on Jan. 1.

Anyone who has not completed the battery of five exams by Dec. 30 will have to start from scratch after the first of the year.

Earlier this month, Everett Community College had to turn away people wanting to take GED exams. At the testing center at Edmonds Community College, which usually hosts 40 test takers a week, 117 showed up two weeks ago.

Both colleges have expanded their hours for the final stretch.

"We are expecting it’s going to be very busy," said Carol Lee Fish, testing center supervisor at Edmonds Community College.

Fish has encountered people who started taking the exams in the 1980s and feel the urgency to finish now rather than start anew. There was a nationwide flood of test takers in 1987 — right before the last time the exam format was changed.

Some testing centers at community colleges in the state have already stopped letting people register for the exams if they haven’t taken any so far. That has added to the influx of test takers at EvCC and EdCC.

The GED consists of exams covering writing, social studies, science, math and literature and the arts. Together, they take about seven hours and 45 minutes to complete, reports the nonprofit GED Testing Service, which is run by the American Council on Education in Washington, D.C.

The first GED diplomas were presented in 1942 to GIs who interrupted high school to serve in World War II. They were offered to the general public in 1947, and now one out of seven people who graduates each year earns that distinction by passing the GED tests.

In Snohomish County, test takers are anxious to finish sooner than later.

Sid Williams, 31, an Everett machinist, dropped out during his senior year of high school, figuring he wouldn’t need a diploma to pursue his trade. With a slowdown in his industry, Williams is looking to learn new skills, and the GED may open doors.

Kelly Hornick, 23, was waiting in the same line to take his final exam in literature and the arts. The Arlington resident arrived plenty early last Monday after being too late and far back in line the week before. His immediate plans are to pass the GED, enlist in the military and further his education.

"I just thought it would be a walk in the park, and it was a lot harder than I thought," Hornick said.

Fallon Delano, a 16-year-old mother from Marysville, said her stomach was turning as she waited in line beside Hornick and Williams. She decided to take the GED exams and enrolled in basic education classes at the college because she wants to become a dental assistant and to serve as an example for her 2-year-old son.

"I figured I had to go back to school for my little boy," she said.

Mary Kutch, a 25-year-old mother of two, has been taking adult basic education classes at Edmonds Community College for several months. She is one exam — in math — away from her GED.

"I am very excited," she said. "I want to go take it and be done."

The push to earn the GED has also increased the number of adult basic education students at some schools.

At EvCC’s satellite center in Monroe, two GED preparation classes are at capacity. One group is trying to beat the deadline; the other is studying for the new set of exams next year.

"We have the biggest class we have ever had," said Sheila Dunn, director of EvCC’s east county program.

You can call Herald Writer Eric Stevick at 425-339-3446

or send e-mail to stevick@heraldnet.com.

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