TOLEDO – While we all have different paths in life, one constant is the changeable nature of that journey and that plans can be altered in an instant.
Penta Career Center recognizes this fact, so through its Aspire Program, a grant-funded initiative, adult learners are offered the opportunity to pursue their GED, a free program available at 16 locations in Lucas and Wood counties.
Genesis Hersha is an Aspire graduate and an example of someone who took advantage of the opportunity to take her high school equivalency test.
“I was 17, turning 18. I couldn’t pass my Ohio Graduation Tests (OGT’s) for the life of me. I did the prep test, the classes — all that stuff — and for some reason every time I would just retake them,” she recalled.
“I just tanked them. And in the state of Ohio, the only way you can graduate — no matter how many credits you have — you have to pass those Ohio state tests. So, when I turned 18, I got very discouraged and dropped out,” Hersha said.
But then a life-altering event ultimately led her to the Aspire Program.
In 2022 I was in a major motorcycle accident. When I woke up, half of my body was broken, so I was in a wheelchair.
Genesis Hersha, Aspire Program graduate
“I was 22-23 years old, and I was a single mother who went from a fully capable human being to not being able to do very much on my own. I couldn’t work,” Hersha said. “I already felt guilty for putting myself in the position that I did with my motorcycle accident. I couldn’t just sit in a wheelchair, so I decided to get myself into school.”
Aspire supervisor Jessica Arbuckle explained that the program is there for adults like Hersha, who was ready to get back into school to earn her GED. “A central focus of our program is students who are going back to earn their high school equivalency.”
“However, we service students who do have their high school diploma but maybe need to come back to move on to post-secondary. So, they could be low in their math skills and want to get into a trades program or continue on to college.”
The super power for Aspire are the course instructors who help in nurturing personal development for their students through any way possible. Jo-Anne Chrysochoos is one such instructor.
Chrysochoos was teaching a GED class at the Reynolds Corner Library in Toledo on Jan. 15 when Hersha stopped by the classroom to the share her success story with the Free Press.
Their special relationship was on full display as Hersha entered the classroom and hugged Chrysochoos, who had been mentoring her for several years.
Hersha said she joined Aspire partially due to Chrysochoos being an Aspire instructor.
“It’s been great. Students are very appreciative and they’re adult learners,” Chrysochoos explained. “Even the young ones that come in, we treat them as adults, and they have to be independent and do what they need to do.”
“I’ve always been let down by all of my elders,” said Hersha. “I have maybe three teachers in my mind right now that actually tried to help me, in seeing that I wasn’t just a bad kid, and that’s why I thank Jo [Chrysochoos] because Jo has gone above and beyond. If it wasn’t for Jo, I probably would have never even stayed in this program.”
Registration for the program is free and can be done through Penta’s website. There is a mandatory orientation, which is the only requirement to begin the program.
Aspire even has its own graduation program, allowing friends and family to celebrate how the students have change their lives, and to show off their achievements.
“I had a woman who got her GED over at Sylvania,” Chryschoos recounted. “She got her GED, and then her husband came here, like a year later, and the girl never went through the graduation program. So her husband convinced her, and they both went through the graduation together in front of their kids; they both got their GEDs.”
Penta Career Center's Aspire program offers both on-site and online options. Classes are held two days a week for three hours each day, and the virtual option is held in Google Classroom.
For more information, contact the Aspire office at 419.491.8433
