KAYSVILLE—There are 10,000 people over the age of 18 in Davis County that don’t have a diploma or GED. The Davis School District Adult Education’s mission is to change that and get students the help they need to be successful in the future. At the school’s graduation in May, 270 students got their high school diploma and 60 received their GED. 

The program is open to those 16 and over. In addition to working toward a diploma or GED the school offers ELL (English Language Learner classes). “We have students from 36 countries,” said Marci Flocken, Adult Education Coordinator. “There are 28 different languages. About half of our students are in the ELL classes.”

The hallway leading to the classrooms is lined with flags from different countries. “When they come in we assess what level of English proficiency they have,” she said. “We run six levels. It doesn’t matter what language you’re speaking, you are immersed in it. We only speak English to them.”

It’s all direct instruction, Flocken said. “They interact and speak and listen to each other. The goal is for students to be able to exit and be able to function in society such as pay their taxes, get a job, etc.”

Many people were doctors, nurses, accountants, etc. before they came to the U.S., she said. “They don’t recognize your credentials here. Imagine losing all of that and you can’t speak the language.”

The district has a program that the school refers them to, said Flocken. “William Calle helps them verify credentials and restores them. He came from Colombia and he and his family literally ran for their lives. He’s been through this process so he can help others do the same.” 

An Adult Education student pumps his fist as he walks across the stage at graduation. Photo Courtesy DSD

 Some students who come in to work on a diploma or GED might have one credit or 20, she said. “We start where they are and build on that,” Flocken said. “The teachers make it very individualized. Students often say they’ve been passed over for promotion at their job because they haven’t graduated from high school.”

For high school students they have to un-enroll from their high school to attend, she said. “It’s a state board rule. They’re changing the rules up in the coming school year so that students will have the right to go back to their school anytime. That’s a substantial change. We get funding if they get a diploma but if they go back to their high school we don’t receive funding.”

The diploma is traditional like high school, she said. “They have to get the credits to graduate. With the GED they have to pass four content tests, language arts, math, science and social studies. The test is rigorous. It takes some study.”

Adult Education also provides classes in the jail, said Flocken. “They don’t allow any electronics so it has to be paper and pencil. It’s one of the most impactful things we can do to not have them go back to jail.”

Flocken said some officials don’t think it should be funded. “Maybe it doesn’t look good on paper. If you haven’t done this work you don’t understand why we’re serving them. One student (at the jail) said ‘the education here isn’t just informational, it’s transformational. It changes the way you’re thinking when you get out.’” 

This program is life changing, she said. “Another student went from being the most difficult in class to the best student who started advocating for the program. As director I see those transformations. It’s heartbreaking that we might not be able to do it again (funding cuts).”

Flocken said there were many touching moments at graduation. “One young, beautiful lady walked across the stage with two ankle (monitoring) bracelets on. She was not trying to hide them. She was saying ‘this is who I am. I got a diploma and I deserve to walk.’ If that had been me I would have covered them but she wore them with pride.”

Flocken has been the director for 10 years and came by it in an unusual way. “My mom was decluttering and found this diploma in a box. It was my grandma’s. My mother said how grandma would tell her how embarrassed she was that she didn’t have a diploma. She took night classes and graduated from adult education in 1968. She never told us.”

Her grandma died in 2014. “I got this job in 2015,” said Flocken. “I was going to take a job out of the country but when I saw the diploma I knew I was supposed to be here. It had come full circle. I think my grandma was giving me a shove from the universe. I believe we all have a purpose to be where we are.”