Ilisagvik College sponsors GED summer camp

THE SOUNDER STAFF

July 10, 2008 at 10:25AM AKST

Folks from across the North Slope have been given a second shot at getting their high school diploma without having to travel far from home.

Ilisagvik College in Barrow sponsored two General Educational Development test summer camps throughout the month of June, and 19 students participated.

Application was open for anyone 17 years and older with an eighth-grade level education.

Each camp lasted two weeks and was conducted at the Savaat Center. Students from outside of Barrow were provided with room and board at Ilisagvik through a grant from the state of Alaska for adult basic education.

Instructors for the camp were Diana Perkett, Greg Shriver, Kara Danner and Phyllis Hill.

North Slope Borough Mayor Edward Itta addressed both camps on opening day.

“You can succeed. You can stumble, but you can achieve your goal,” he told the students. The mayor advised students to ignore negativity that may affect them.

“If you surround yourself with positive people, you will have a positive attitude.

Healthy communities are not just about drugs and alcohol. It means a healthy mind and positive actions as well. We make our own choices based on the kind of world we want to live in,” he said.

Others who spoke to the students included Louisa Riley, who also encouraged students to keep a positive attitude and to have faith in themselves, and Deano Olemaun, who told participants that their future is up to them.

“The GED summer camp was an interesting experience,” said Aaron Milligrock, a student from Point Hope who realized he needs a degree for his future.

“In my case, I went straight to the tests after the instructors found out my scores from the practice test. The camp was only a week, but yet I learned more in that week than a year in school.”

The tests weren’t as hard as Milligrock expected. “Yeah, some took long, but with the mentality I had, I was not about to let the chances of getting my diploma be pushed off for another couple of months or even a year.”

Milligrock said he attempted to take the official tests and also enjoyed his time at Ilisagvik College.

The camp has already produced its first success with Bonnie Aishanna, who passed all GED tests and is now officially a graduate.

For those students who were not able to complete their GED during the two-week period, Ilisagvik will follow up with them to continue to encourage them to work towards obtaining their degree.

For more information on this topic, contact Diana Perkett at (907) 852-1741.

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