Until they found Fremont Union High School District's Adult and Community Education program, Diana Tran, Mark Bergeron and Roydell Trent felt their lives were adrift, like ships without a port.
Tran, 17, is a high-school dropout and the single parent of an 8-month-old daughter. Bergeron, also a 17-year-old dropout, has two young children to raise, but held only low-paying jobs because of his lack of education.
Trent, a 38-year-old divorcée, could find job opportunities only in cosmetology, a field she entered more than two decades ago and in which she now feels trapped.
All three say they have the chance to improve their lives after enrolling in the General Education Development preparation classes offered through FUHSD's adult education program.
"I need this program to live a better life," Bergeron said. "Without this training, my life would basically go nowhere."
Many of the nearly 16,000 students enrolled in the adult education program express similar sentiments. They are using the GED classes and 136 other classes offered as a stepping stone to better careers and improved lives.
Many are working toward becoming nursing assistants, dental assistants or auto mechanics. Others will move on to four-year colleges, said Dr. Jim Warren, co-director.
"Our students are eager to learn," he said. "They come with a mission, because they know what they learn here can make a difference in their futures."
Students learn, among other things:
* to look for a job and produce a résumé
* to speak English better
* to start a new business
* to speak a new language like French, Italian or German
* to prepare for citizenship tests
* to learn about finances.
The students, who range from 17 to 50 years of age, also take courses that enrich their lives and help them with self-growth, such as dancing, assertiveness training, alternative health care, writing and makeup techniques.
About 200 instructors teach classes at 25 locations in Cupertino and Sunnyvale, with at least four FUHSD high schools and several churches used as teaching sites.
Students have lined up to take English as a Second Language, vocational and career education classes, GED preparation classes, parenting classes, cooking and recreation classes and classes for seniors, program officials said.
Students get more attention because classes are small, about 20 students per class.
Most classes run from six to eight weeks.
The program operates with a $3 million budget this year. No fees are charged for classes that deal with basic math and English. Fees are charged for other courses that go beyond these basic requirements. For instance, fees range between $11 for a cooking class to $229 for a "Test of English as a Foreign Language" class.
Roydell Trent discovered her lifelong fear of math was unfounded after she enrolled in GED preparation class in October. She could barely multiply when she started the class; two weeks later she was solving algebra problems. She now teaches other students and has become a role model, said GED counselor-teacher Pat Shea.
The GED classes are held in a building next to the FUHSD administration building in Sunnyvale.
"When I was growing up in Michigan, my mother and sister used to hit me because I didn't do well in math," Trent said solemnly. "I had this fear of math all my life, and now I find I am good at it. It took coming here to realize my potential."
Trent said she worked as a cosmetologist for 23 years and made a good living, but she wants to pursue something different and more stimulating.
Her newfound mastery of math has stirred thoughts of becoming a math teacher or an accountant.
Mark Bergeron feels optimistic about his future after enrolling in the program last November. He dropped out of Westmont High School in Campbell as a freshman in 1993 and found only low-paying jobs as clerk and maintenance man.
"I got tired of making the minimum wage, $4.25 an hour," he said. "I realize what it takes to raise a family, and I need to make more money."
Bergeron said he wants to go to college to become a respiratory therapist.
"I didn't realize the importance of an education just two years ago," he said. "Now I know I can't get anywhere without it. Having an education will determine whether your future will be good or bad."
Victoria Maxson, one of three GED teachers, encourages all her students to excel. With a smile and easygoing manner, Maxson greeted every student who walked into her class on a recent day.
"What is good about this program is that it is accepting," she said. "Nobody gets labeled as dumb."
Birgit Boklund, an ESL teacher with the adult education program for 17 years, makes all her students at the Community Christian Church in Sunnyvale feel at home.
She spoke slowly and clearly to enunciate sentences. Along with teaching grammar, Boklund, standing in front of a blackboard with chalk in hand, talked about how to take a bus and the purpose of using a checking account.
Juan Sanchez, 28, listened intently and smiled when she looked his way to see if he grasped what was taught.
"I think she is a very good teacher," said Sanchez, an assistant manager at a Burger King in Sunnyvale who wants to pursue other opportunities. "I want to make more money. The more English I learn, I have more chance of happier life."
This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, January 24, 1996
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.