Fulfilling a dream to teach

Fulfilling

a dream to teach

College Park's S.L. Lewis Elementary

School employee, Kenya Tucker is proving it's never too late to go back

to school.

Tucker will soon graduate with

an associate degree in education with honors thanks in part to the financial

help of the Promise II Teacher Scholarship Program.

Last year, the Fulton County

Board of Education encouraged paraprofessionals to attend college and

eventually become certified teachers within Fulton County with the help

of Promise II.

Promise II falls under the

realm of the Georgia Student Finance Commission as does the more well-known

Hope Scholarship program.

Those eligible must be currently

employed in an educational setting, and upon completion of the program

must agree to educational service in Georgia. The participants use the

scholarship money for up to 45 quarter-hours of tuition expenses. Another

interesting fact about the program is that students do not have to attend

the Georgia public college of their choosing full time.

Tucker said she feels, "proud

and fulfilled" to have completed her requirements of study at the

Union City/Ft. McPherson distance-learning branch of Georgia Military

College.

According to Mick Maguire,

Assistant Director of Georgia Military College's Ft. McPherson Campus,

a number of Promise II scholarship students at his location are residents

from all over the metro Atlanta area.

Most students attending GMC

are considered non-traditional in the sense that they work full time and

or have families to take care of in addition to their college responsibilities.

Tucker and Maguire hope more local students will take advantage of the

Promise II Scholarship opportunities available.

Tucker will reach her goal

of graduation on September 29. The actual ceremony will take place on

the Georgia Military College's main campus in Milledgeville in January

of 2003. She will celebrate her achievement with a weekend getaway with

her husband and proclaims, "You're never to old to go