Pima Community College Celebrates High School Equivalency Graduates, September 23

Tucson, AZ – On September 23 Pima Community College Adult Basic Education for College & Career will celebrate this year's High School Equivalency graduates at 6:30 p.m. in the Tucson Convention Center Leo Rich Theater.

What: Pima Community College Adult Basic Education for College & Career High School Equivalency Graduation
When: 6:30 p.m., Friday, Sept. 23
Where: Tucson Convention Center Leo Rich Theater for graduates, guests and media. The event will also be live streamed on PCCTV YouTube.
Details: HSE graduates will be available for interviews with media

Graduates Ciarra “CC” Flannery, Jennylee January-Hocking and Atheena Martinez will share their success stories on how earning a High School Equivalency diploma changed their lives.

CC Flannery left school at the age of 16 to raise her daughter. Many hardships followed over the next several years, but CC was committed to pursuing her dreams and being a role model for her daughters. Once she decided to get her HSE diploma, it took her two months to prepare for and pass her GED test. Since then, she has earned her peer mentoring certificate and is preparing to continue her education at Pima Community College in January.

Atheena Martinez, a 32-year-old mother of six, passed her GED test in 2021 and is now enrolled in Pima Community College’s Building and Construction Technologies IBEST program. She plans to open a youth center to teach basic and advanced carpentry skills to youth. Her message: "If there is only one thing you leave here with today, it's to follow your dreams… let your hard work and perseverance drive you for a better future. Don't give up, challenge yourself!"

Jennylee January-Hocking was homeschooled until high school. In her junior year, her mother was in a car accident and she had to leave high school to keep their ranch and businesses afloat. For years she carried shame about not finishing high school. She found Pima’s Adult Education program at the 29th Street Coalition Center and was welcomed with open arms. After passing the GED test, she continued her educational goals at Pima Community College. She is pursuing an associate degree in Liberal Arts with an emphasis on Education and plans to be a teacher.

About Adult Education at Pima

For more than 50 years, Pima’s Adult Basic Education for College and Career has played a critical role in promoting adult ed in the community. Each year, it helps thousands of adult students who need to strengthen their basic literacy and math skills, improve their English, study for a High School Equivalency diploma, and prepare for college and career.

For more information about Adult Basic Education for College and Career classes, email

adulted@pima.edu, call 520-206-7330 or visit pima.edu/adulted.

CONTACT:
Laurie Kierstead-Joseph, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Adult Basic Education
520-206-6187
lkierstead@pima.edu

Wendy Scheder Black
Director, College & Career Transitions and Partnerships, Adult Basic Education
wscheder@pima.edu / 520-206-6102