Delaware Officials discuss plans to enhance adult education at Sussex Tech

SUSSEX Co, Del. – The First State is expanding the horizon of opportunities for degree seeking adults.

With the help of some state funding, director of the Adult Education Program, Kelly Whaley, said adults can get an education and a higher paying job, much easier.

“Increased funding will allow us to offer even more classes to bring students in off of our waiting list, because they just want to make better lives for themselves,” Whaley said.

State Senator, Darius Brown, is an advocate for the program, pointing to the endless opportunities it offers Delawareans.

“It creates economic opportunity for residents in our state; it helps them retool and be employed in different employment sectors, and create upper mobility for themselves and their families,” Senator Brown said.

Cassidy Leonetti graduated the program in 2023 and began working at the Delmarva Home of Hope. She said earning her GED opened new doors for her and her daughter.

“It’s always an accomplishment for me to also get my GED,” Leonetti said. “Not many people in my family had gotten their GED, so I just have that sense of accomplishment in my family.”

With hopes of taking aspiring graduates off the wait list and getting them into classrooms, Senator Brown said offering this resource to the community can create brighter futures for all who participate.

‘These are not data sets, these are real people,” Senator Brown said. “How we help and lift real people in the stories we heard today, improves their lives, improves the lives of all of those that are connected to them, and actually allows them to be examples of the success of this program.”