Wyvonia Solomon's

story left many of Coweta County's school board members with smiles on

their faces.

Solomon appeared

before the board Tuesday night to tell her experience with the county's

adult education program.

The program

is administered by West Central Technical College and offered at sites

throughout the county by the Coweta County School System.

Solomon told

the board that she had worked at Playtex for more than 30 years when the

plant shut down in 1999.

When she started,

the country was in the throes of integration and the plant wanted black

workers and did not care if they had high school educations.

But when the

plant shut down, Solomon discovered she would have to do something about

her education level if she wanted a better job.

"I didn't

want to do any more factory work," she said.

So, Solomon

enrolled in a graduate equivalency class and started working toward getting

her certificate. She failed the essay portion of the test on the first

try, but got a tutor and eventually passed the test.

"It wasn't

easy, but this is one of the things I'm most proud of," she said.

Solomon said

the program is wonderful and encouraged anybody who does not have a high

school diploma to enroll.

The program

currently has more than 400 students enrolled.