Carla Lamb, GED program director for the Region 17 Education Service Center in Lubbock, hired a new instructor for the Littlefield GED program, currently located at 301 S. Ripley Ave.
Although Littlefield did not have a GED program instructor for a time, Lamb recently hired Bryan Edwards as the new GED instructor.
“We have had, for a little bit of time, we didn’t have an instructor and we had to locate one. We do have one there that’s working pretty steadily. They’re housed in the work force building there, but... we’re having a meeting about maybe trying to find a new location. We were kind of searching around looking for places, possibly the library or a church or some other type of location there,” said Director Carla Lamb.
The classes for the program are going to be structured differently, depending on the instructor and the needs of the surrounding community.
“We’ve had [classes] in the evening in the past and that’s what we’ve been doing. We may offer some afternoon as well as evening, and maybe even a Saturday morning, we’ve had some success with that. We try to tailor it to the community that we’re in,” said Lamb.
The GED program covers the four basic topics; math, science, social studies and English, but the program focuses on one subject at a time.
“We have students work on one subject at a time...so they don’t have to worry about studying everything at one time and feeling overwhelmed,” Lamb said. “I think lots of students might be nervous about it or scared because they’re coming back to school but we try to help them in anyway possible. We do it a little bit at a time and they can work in whatever level they’re at and whatever pace they are. We don’t have anybody pressuring anybody to get finished by a certain date, so it really is a welcoming atmosphere.”
The program is offered yearround, except during the holidays.
“Whatever the school holidays are, we basically try to follow, except for the summer where we’re opened all summer. We do take a spring break off, we generally try to match that with the locations that we’re at,” Lamb said.
The course is opened to anyone 17-years-old and up.
“We do offer it for 17-year-olds and up, but if you’re 17 years old, 17 and 18, we do require a parent meeting and parents participation in that,” Lamb said. “Obviously we have students all the way, I mean, we had some students here in their 80s. We have every age. There is a possibility that we will be offering ESL classes there as well, we just haven’t started those yet, if anybody has any interest, we certainly will do that.”
The program is free for anyone interested in joining the program.
“No, there’s no fee for it,” Lamb said. “In fact, if they are 21 years and older, we actually provide vouchers to pay for the testing and the tests are around $37 or $38 for each section. So that’s quite a savings. If you’re over 21 you can come and complete this program and there’s no charge and there’s no charge to take tests.”
Lamb said she is happy to help anyone in the community.
“We certainly want everybody to come out that needs it, it doesn’t matter what age they are or what they re situation in life is. We’re just happy to help people because getting your GED is one step closer to getting a better job and helping themselves and their families. That’s what we want to do, that’s what were here for,” Lamb said.