GED Graduation Bittersweet For Local Family

The family of Mary Grecsek (l to r) daughter Regina, husband Raymond, daughter Desiree, and mother Pat accept her GED diploma on her behalf from President Bailey. Mary passed away five weeks before the ceremony.

Like other families who attended A-B Tech's GED/Adult High School Diploma Recognition Ceremony, Mary Grecsek's was filled with happiness and pride. But along with the Grecseks' joy was a sense of sorrow that the woman who worked so hard to make a better life for her family wasn't there to celebrate with them.

Thirty-nine-year-old Mary, or"Bonnie" as she was known to family and friends, completed work for her GED in the summer of 2002, but cancer claimed her life May 1 - five weeks to the day before she could take part in the ceremony held to recognize students who completed their GEDs or Adult High School Diplomas within the past year. Her husband of nearly 24 years, Raymond, the couple's two daughters - 19-year-old Regina and 12-year-old Desiree - and Bonnie's mother received the diploma in Bonnie's memory during the June 5 ceremony in Ferguson Auditorium.

Bonnie Grecsek was hired as a ward clerk at Madison Manor, a 100-bed nursing home in Mars Hill, in April 2000. Described by Administrator Beverly Baxter as an"excellent, absolutely excellent" employee, Bonnie was being groomed by Baxter to replace her after she retired, but needed to complete her GED and some college classes first. Bonnie's plans were cut short by the discovery in the summer of 2001 of a harmless-looking mole that turned out to be melanoma. Surgery followed by chemotherapy gave her enough time to complete requirements for a GED, but not enough to realize her dream of participating in the graduation ceremony.

"When we got the letter about the commencement, I said to my daughters we should go," Raymond Grecsek said, adding that he and his children are very proud of his wife's accomplishments but heartbroken over her death."Bonnie really, really wanted this job as administrator. If it wasn't for her getting sick, she would have got it and it's really sad."

"We're probably going to laugh and cry at the same time," he said a few days before the event. "She was a great mother and a great wife, there's no doubt about that."

GED/Adult High School Diploma Notables

• From January 2002-May 2003, there were 329 GED graduates and 14 Adult High School Diploma graduates.
• Graduates included brother and sister Ashley and David Case and husband and wife Deborah and Richard Shelton.
• Seirisse Baker received both her GED and Adult High School Diploma.
• Two sisters who immigrated from Muldova received GEDs. Olga Kondryuk completed high school in Muldova and works as an inspector in a manufacturing plant and as an interpreter. Oksana Kondryuk left Moldova just two months before she could finish high school. She is a teacher assistant and interpreter at Reynolds High School.
• Nathan Godleski became the third person in his family to receive a GED from A-B Tech. His twin brother, Jonathan, graduated in 2002 and their older brother, Joel, in 2000.
• Krystal Burris received the first College Bridge Scholarship, awarded to students who complete a GED or Adult High School Diploma and plan to enroll in a curriculum program in the fall. Krystal, who lives in Fairview, dropped out of high school when she was 16. She says:"The funny thing is, when I was in school, I just wanted to be free. Now that I am free, I just want to go back to school." Krystal earned a GED and plans to enroll in A-B Tech's college transfer program. She eventually hopes to transfer to Appalachian State University and become a psychologist.

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PTK Participates In Project Graduation: Feed a Body Feed a Mind

The Alpha Upsilon Eta Chapter of Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society is participating in an initiative designed to help alleviate hunger and illiteracy in the community. The initiative is called Project Graduation : Feed a Body, Feed a Mind.

Graduating students and their guests, faculty, and staff are asked to bring non-perishable food items or books to the college graduation ceremony to be held on Friday, August 1st from 6 - 9 p.m. at the Asheville Civic Center. Barrels will be provided for depositing canned goods and non-perishables. No glass or home-canned items will be accepted. Phi Theta Kappa volunteers will man a table to collect books. Children and young adult books are needed the most but all are appreciated. After the graduation ceremony, the books will be distributed to The Literacy Council and The United way, and the canned goods will be given to Manna Food Bank.

Project Graduation is a national service program that supports the efforts of community-based organizations to eliminate hunger and illiteracy. This goal is achieved by tapping the collective resources of the audiences at college commencement ceremonies - asking the graduates, their families, and others attending the ceremony to bring books and canned foods.

"Such a simple gesture of bringing a canned good or book to our commencement ceremony will help improve the quality of life in our community", says PTK President Gary Lodato.

For more information, please contact Gary Lodato at (828) 253-8981

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Making a Good Impression

Shaun Tate, Chairperson of Allied Dental Programs, and Bob Eldridge, ÊAllied Dental Instructor, take a picture with the intra-oral camera of the Siemens Cerec 2. The machine, donated by Dr. John W. Hooker of Franklin, Êenables the dentist to create porcelain inlays, onlays and crowns on site instead of sending them to a lab. The Cerec 2, valued at $40,000, is "an amazing piece of machinery," says Dr. Eldridge.

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A-B Tech Welcomes Two New Employees

Andrew T. Pratt has been hired as an instructor in Hospitality Education. A graduate of the New England Culinary Institute and the University of Hawaii, Pratt comes to A-B Tech from the New England Culinary Institute, where he was a Culinary Instructor. He has also worked as a professional chef in many restaurants in Chicago.

Jackie M. Searcy has been hired as the secretary/receptionist for the Financial Aid department. She graduated from A-B Tech with two A.A.S. degrees- one in Hotel and Restaurant Management and one in Business Administration.

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