Making Our Way in a New World

We’ve heard all the old adages from our parents and, as kids, blown them off as ramblings of the ’rents in their dotages.

“You get what you pay for.” “A penny earned is a penny saved.” “Education is the key that opens all doors.”

But there comes a time for every child-turned-adult to admit the parents were, in fact, right after all.

It’s that third, time-worn adage — “Education is the key that opens all doors” — that educators across Central Virginia are driving home to folks throughout our region through Adult Continuing Education of Central Virginia.

ACE, as it’s known, is a joint effort of all the public school divisions in the area: Lynchburg and the counties of Amherst, Appomattox, Bedford, Campbell and Nelson. The goal is simple: Make getting a GED as easy as possible for anyone who wants to earn a high school diploma. (Call your local school division for information on classes in your community.)

Each of the participating school divisions provides all the materials and educator preparation folks need to get ready for the test. All the individual has to do is show up and be ready to work.

In today’s economy, there are fewer and fewer good jobs left for which a person can qualify with no high school diploma. Indeed, there are fewer and fewer jobs for people with just a high school diploma.

Education and advanced training are essential for getting ahead in a modern economy, especially a modern economy that’s in the middle of a downturn. Indeed, last week the New York Times reported that the South is the hardest hit region of the country in the wake of the Great Recession as low-skilled jobs that migrated to the region in decades past have vanished, unlikely to return.

That’s why programs such as ACE are so vitally important as part of America’s longterm recovery from the recession.

The recovery won’t be easy, and the jobs that have vanished over the past three years won’t come back any time soon.

And the jobs that could be done with little or no formal education? Well, let’s face it: They’re likely gone forever.

Jobs in the new economy will demand higher and higher levels of education. The first step, while often the hardest, is also the most important.

That’s what people need to recognize; but the benefits potentially are life-changing. Just ask any one of the 162 people who’ve obtained their GEDs just in the Lynchburg program alone.

And this is where we’ll throw out another adage from our parents’ generation that is as true today as then: A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.