Middle Georgia Technical College

MGTC Celebrates CLCP Designation for Dooly, Crisp

Officials from Middle Georgia Technical College (MGTC), along with representatives from South Georgia Technical College (SGTC), and the Cordele Housing Authority (CHA), were on hand to celebrate the recognition of the Crisp and Dooly communities as achieving goals to be designated as a Certified Literate Community Program (CLCP). These goals were achieved through the Lifetime Education and Reading Network (LEARNetwork).

LEARNetwork is a nonprofit agency that provides adult education programs to all adults in Dooly and Crisp counties who do not have a high school diploma or need academic remediation. The agency also serves as the coordinator for the Crisp/Dooly for the Certified Literate Community Program. The goal of the CLCP is to make significant, measureable progress in the educational level of the majority adults in need of improvement in a community within a ten-year time frame.

Since its establishment in 1996, the LEARNetwork set out to achieve the goal of educating 4,712 students within the ten-year time period. Six years later, the group had met their original goal and after the tenth year, 6,457 adults had received their GEDs or met learning goals.

Billie Izard, executive director of the CLCP for the Technical College System of Georgia, spoke at the recognition ceremony and introduced the Georgia Council on Adult Literacy (GCAL) team that made the final determination for the communities. The GCAL team visited sites in both Vienna and Cordele to verify the application information.

The GCAL evaluation team, consisting of Anne Josey, Coweta County CLCP executive director, and Harriet Hollis, Albany/Dougherty County CLCP executive director, concluded that the Crisp/Dooly community services were outstanding. Hollis made the official announcement to the crowd at SGTC's Crisp County Campus.

The Certified Literate Community Program promotes literacy in Georgia by involving entire communities. The CLCP is a business-education-government partnership resulting in improved literacy levels of children, families, and workers in an entire community. The State CLCP program began in 1990 with five pilot communities. Currently, the CLCP has 56 programs, 42 of which are participants and 14 Certified Literate Communities.

In order to achieve the CLCP designation, strict criteria must be met. After meeting the ten-year goal, the program has continued to operate. Today, the LEARNetwork learning lab operated at the Cordele Housing Authority and MGTC and SGTC have steadily increased the number of people receiving their GEDs in the local area. The LEARNetwork lab also assists the Youth Build educational program and helps high school students prepare for re-testing for the Georgia High School Graduation test.

Representatives from Middle Georgia Technical College, South Georgia Technical College, the Cordele Housing Authority, and the Crisp and Dooly Communities celebrate the CLCP designation for Crisp and Dooly counties.