(Butler, PA) Roger Walker Jr. sat inside the red sedan he drives to his job at a fast-food restaurant after realizing he had achieved a commonwealth secondary school diploma through Butler County Community College’s free adult literacy program, and diverted his attention to the rearview mirror, seeing the empty child safety seat where blond-haired, blue-eyed son Ashton often sits.
It’s where the 4-year-old, wearing his favorite red Spider-Man T-shirt, peppers the 21-year-old with questions.
“Dad, why is the sky blue?”
“Dad, why is that car moving?”
“And he loves to count,” Walker, of Butler, said of Ashton. “When we see something, he will say, ‘Dad, there are four’ of these. ‘Dad, there are 13’ of those.”
The single father in a 2021-2022 fiscal year that ended June 30 was among the 25 Butler County students who achieved a commonwealth secondary school diploma through BC3’s Adult Literacy program.
“I just immediately thought of him,” Walker said of Ashton and the March morning when he passed his final two of four General Educational Development tests, in mathematics and in science. “I thought about the better future I can help to provide for him.”
Achieving a commonwealth secondary school diploma “is not only helping that person,” said Barb Gade, grant director of BC3’s Adult Literacy program, “but they become greater contributors to the community at large.”
5 options available to students
BC3’s free adult literacy courses this fall begin Sept. 12 online from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays.
Courses begin Sept. 13 in person Tuesdays and Thursdays at four locations in Butler County. Classes will be held from 9 a.m. to noon at the First United Methodist Church Ministry Center, 200 E. North St., Butler; from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Pennsylvania CareerLink Butler County, 112 Hollywood Drive, Butler; from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at BC3 @ Cranberry; and from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on BC3’s main campus.
The five options for students this fall are the most BC3’s Adult Literacy program has offered, Gade said.
Just more than 50 students dropped out of Butler County’s seven public school districts in the 2020-2021 academic year, according to the most recent state Department of Education statistics. Reasons can include having academic or behavioral problems, providing child care, disliking school, running away, being expelled or wanting to work.
About 5 percent of Butler County residents ages 25 or older between 2016 and 2020 had not earned a high school diploma or its equivalent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
In addition to mathematics and science, BC3’s adult literacy courses prepare students to take General Educational Development tests that measure proficiency in language arts, which includes reading and writing; and in social studies.
“I just sat in my car. I took a moment and felt like, ‘OK. It’s finally done. I finally got it.’ It opened up a whole new world of possibilities for me.”
Nearly 3,100 students in Pennsylvania earned a commonwealth secondary school diploma through High School Equivalency or General Educational Development tests between July 1, 2021, and June 30, according to Whitney Newhouse, division of adult education, state Department of Education.
Butler County residents achieving a commonwealth secondary school diploma through BC3’s adult literacy program “fulfills an educational goal for them,” Gade said, “but beyond that, it starts to give them hope in different areas.”
“You can pass this”
Walker is among the approximately 525 students who have achieved commonwealth secondary school diplomas through BC3’s Adult Literacy program in her 13 years, Gade said.
“I just sat in my car,” Walker said. “I took a moment and felt like, ‘OK. It’s finally done. I finally got it.’ It opened up a whole new world of possibilities for me.”
Upon the birth of Ashton in January 2018, Walker suspended his in-person education as a junior at Butler Senior High School. He began to work full time while attempting to continue his education through online courses offered by a private institution.
“After a while, I didn’t do too great with it,” Walker said. “When I finally did make the decision to step away from my education, I was disappointed, to be honest. I felt like I was letting some people down.”
Walker learned about BC3’s Adult Literacy program through a family friend and enrolled in January. His instructor, Caris Doss, “focused on every individual person,” Walker said, “and what they needed help most with.”
"I’m not only a teacher. I’m a cheerleader. "
Doss, a former English teacher in Florida, said Walker was “ready to learn. All he needed was the confidence boost. This is the case for a lot of my students. What they mostly need is someone to tell them they can do it. I’m not only a teacher. I’m a cheerleader. I tell them, ‘You can pass this.’”
According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, median weekly earnings in 2021 for those age 25 and older were $626 for those without a high school diploma and $809 for those with a high school diploma.
Median weekly earnings for those age 25 and older were $963 for those with an associate degree – which Walker is now pursuing at BC3.
“I’m optimistic and very excited about my future,” said Walker, who intends to achieve an associate degree in business administration and transfer to Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania to pursue a bachelor’s degree. His goal is to own a restaurant.
“Congrats, Daddy”
He still works 36 hours a week at a fast-food restaurant – “I’m trying to provide for my son,” he said – while taking 15 credits in courses such as introduction to business, introduction to computer applications, business mathematics, human resource management and college writing.
Weeks after he sat inside the red sedan he drives to his job at a fast-food restaurant and diverted his attention to the rearview mirror, Walker’s commonwealth secondary school diploma arrived in the mail.
Walker showed the diploma to Ashton, whom he calls “my best friend.”
“He asked, ‘What’s that?’ I explained it to him,” Walker said. “‘That is my high school diploma. I graduated.’ And he looked at me and said, ‘Congrats, Daddy.’
“And he gave me a hug.”
For more information or to register, contact BC3’s Adult Literacy program at 724-287-8711 Ext. 8350.
