By Fred Guarino
The Lowndes Signal

The Lowndes Academy Board of Education presented quarterly awards and recognized three county jail inmates who completed the GED program Thursday night.

With the help of Board of Education President Ben Davis, School Superintendent Dr. Daniel Boyd presented awards for student, parent or guardian, volunteer, support personnel, teacher, principal and administrator of the quarter.

Quarterly awards went to teacher, Sally Rudolph of Central Elementary School; support personnel, Edna Goldsmith of Hayneville Middle School; parent DeAngelia Scott of Fort Deposit Elementary; student Carlesia Medlock of Hayneville Middle School; volunteer, Linda Reed of Central Elementary; principal, Bessie Morgan of Fort Deposit Elementary; and administrator Yvette Patterson of the Central Office.

This is the eighth year of the quarterly awards from which winners for the year are selected, Boyd said.

He said Student of the Quarter Medlock did an “outstanding job.”

Boyd said Medlock’s scores were not where she wanted them to be, so she made a promise to herself to work harder on her reading skills. “This student had the highest gain when compared to all the students in the whole school,” he said.

He said of Principal Morgan of Fort Deposit Elementary, “Rarely do we give an award like this to a person who is in their first year.” But Boyd said he was impressed with Morgan’s data room and how she tracks students and their results on a student-by-student basis.

The winners of the year in each category are selected from the quarterly awards winners and are recognized at a Gala event in May, according to Boyd.

But Boyd said Thursday’s meeting marked a “special night of awards” because of a grant funded by the Alabama Workforce Development Board to enable individuals to get their GED General Education Diplomas, which was extended to county jail inmates.

Boyd said Pastor Sylvester Hardy asked if the program could be extended to the inmates, and the State Department of Education and Lowndes County Sheriff John Williams were onboard with the idea.

Williams said, ” I think it’s a good thing that guys who are incarcerated can get their GED because now you can’t get a job without a GED or high school diploma.”

Boyd said the program worked so well that he wanted to credit instructor Stacey Woodley who provided the tutoring and instruction.

Boyd wanted to especially recognize the men who got their GED in the extended program. “This is truly, truly awesome for them to come to the RITE (Rural Institute for Technology Education Center in Hayneville) every afternoon to get tutoring and the dedication and work they’ve done they should be very proud of that.”

Boyd recognized inmates James Gohagin and Darryl Brooks, as well as Larren Dawson, who has been released.

The men were transported to the class from the John Hulett Detention Facility.