resource to help prepare people for the Not long after Ramsey completed high school equivalency exam. The his degree, his mother let him know system, with its series of interactive that she, too, had made an investment online lessons, is easy to use and has in herself: She had returned to school proven results: 90 percent of those and earned her GED credential. who complete the course go on to earn Her experience, as well as counttheir GED® credential. less others he’s witnessed across the “I think the GED is truly someCommonwealth, Ramsey said, underthing to be celebrated,” Ramsey said. scored the notion that there’s no one“I say that because there are folks out size-fits-all approach to education. there who, somehow or other, their “Sometimes we get caught up in lives have gotten sidetracked. If we the idea that people do things the same can encourage and support them, they way — everyone arriving and going at will have a the same time,” second shot at Ramsey said. it — and that “But that’s not can open up life, or at least FROM ITS WORK WITH a whole new certainly not EARLY CHILDHOOD world of opporlife as I know it. tunities.” It’s different for EDUCATION TO ITS Reared in everybody.” TEACHER DEVELOPMENT the small town What’s imof Hastings, portant, he says, AND RESOURCES FOR Florida, by is that everyone K-12, KET HAS BEEN THE parents who have access to each worked BEDROCK OF EDUCATION opportunities, two jobs to supof IN THE COMMONWEALTH. regardless port him and his where they are four siblings, in their lives. Ramsey said he And it’s learned early why KET plays on that his family measured success such a vital role in Kentucky, Ramsey not by what was accomplished on the said, creating quality educational tools field but rather what was achieved in like the FastForward resource that the classroom. allow “people to learn at their own He recalled the time when his speed and get where they want to go at mother, furious that her son had gotten their own pace.” a D in English class, pulled him from And because FastForward comes his high school football team for the from KET, Ramsey said, people know semester, unconcerned that he was the they can trust it. star quarterback who had led the team “From its work with early childto back-to-back state championships. hood education to its teacher develop“It was more important for my ment and resources for K-12, KET has mom to see me and my siblings get been the bedrock of education in the an education so we wouldn’t have Commonwealth,” Ramsey said. “It’s to work two jobs for the rest of our a wonderful partnership, not just for lives,” Ramsey said. “She understood the cabinet, but for the entire state of the bigger picture.” Kentucky.”
For more than 40 years, KET has offered instructional services for students in Kentucky and across the nation studying for the GED ® test or other high school equivalency exams. We’ve long known that dropping out of high school need not be the end of one’s education or a barrier to a successful career. This has perhaps never been more true than it is today, as a rapidly changing workplace demands a highly skilled workforce. For the 19 million-plus Americans without a high school diploma, earning a high school credential is the important first step to obtaining the additional schooling or training needed for the jobs of today and tomorrow. And adult learners can turn to KET’s FastForward to help. KET is the largest non-profit GED publisher in the nation, and our FastForward product is one of the most advanced test-preparation systems available. Nine out of 10 people who use FastForward pass the GED test. Additionally, our new Workplace Essentials Skills and In Demand resources provide information and training tailored to specific highdemand career sectors. Explore more about our workforce solutions at KET.org/workforce.
Sincerely,
Shae Hopkins
KET Executive Director and CEO