Over the past 25 years, Mary Flint has been the Fayette County Adult Education Program Coordinator located at Fayette Institute of Technology in Oak Hill. Recently, during the West Virginia Adult Education Association Conference at Camp Dawson, Flints’ program was awarded the West Virginia Adult Education Program of the Year. This designation is awarded to the top full-time program in West Virginia for meeting and exceeding federal and state mandates. These mandates include numbers of students, hours of attendance, advancement in basic skill development, and percentages of students achieving the high school equivalency, obtaining a job, retaining a job, and enrolling into post-secondary education.
Adult education serves adults and out-of-school youth seeking a high school equivalency diploma, students preparing for college entrance or for enrollment in other post-secondary education or training, unemployed or under-skilled workers seeking to obtain or retain a job or to get a promotion, and adults seeking to improve basic academic and computer skills for daily living.
Flint says, “I did not do this alone; we have other instructors dedicated to this program, including Lee Ann Gore who has been with the program for twelve years. Additionally, Elsie Brinegar and Mike Barrett have worked consistently for twenty-five years as well. Having a strong team focused on student achievement and program performance enabled Fayette County to be awarded this designation.”
Having put the program first throughout her whole career has really paid off, and this award has been a personal goal for quite sometime.
“It is a big accomplishment for a county as small as Fayette to achieve this award. There are quality adult education programs in all of the counties, as well as community-based organizations, so the programs are very competitive. This is the first time we have received this award,” says Flint.
Dennis McGraw, Assistant Principal at FIT, says “Ms. Flint is very proud of her coworkers and the other staff at Fayette Institute of Technology. Flint is a very vital asset to our school. We really appreciate her and all she does for the adults around our community.”
Flint states, “It just takes a team who have the passion for teaching adults and a commitment to excellence to achieve this distinction.”
Included in the award was a plaque and gift certificate for free registration to attend the national conference in New Orleans.