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Phoenix Fall Education Specialu.tL.LP. Speils J.O.B. For Growing Number Of StudentsDebbie Sauldsberry (standing) is a personal counselor in the Skills Get Jobs Program atthe YW CA. Nancy Vega is a graduate of the program that assists teen m others in gettinghigh school diplomas, skills and jobs. (Phoenix/Garrity Photo)BY TRACY GARRITYJonathan Vega could have been a statistic. Bom four years ago to a runaway he spent the first years of his life on the welfare rolls. His mother Nancy left home before her sophomore year in high school and could not return to finish her degree. Nancy Vega found out that the only way to support her small family without a degree was by standing in line at the welfare office. With no job and no future, she and Jonathan could have been swallowed by the hopelessness of this reality. But they weren%u2019t.Jonathan is playing upstairs in a toycrammed nursery. He is four-year-old energy careening around the room tussling with his pals, or wordlessly reading a story to himself. At lunchtime he pokes his head around the door to the computer room, an ever-ready smile splitting his face when he sees his mother. They have been through much together this mother and child, but it is their relationship that got Nancy Vega through the tough days while she worked for her Graduation Equivalency Diploma (GED) in a specially designed program for teen mothers at the YWCA. Although the GED classes are open to any female, Nancy Vega was enrolled in the Skills Get Jobs Program that combines a high school diploma with secretarial and living skills to help young mothers get jobs.IT%u2019S NOT EASY%u201cIt%u2019s not easy,%u2019%u2019 says Nancy, who graduated from the program in February%u2019, 1985 and was hired to work at the YWCA. %u201cThere are some days when you just want to forget it, it%u2019s not worth it. But I wanted to do something better for myself and for Jonathan. It wasn%u2019t only me I had to think about. I had a son.%u201dVega finished her freshman year in high school and then ran away from home. %u201cI really wasn%u2019t running away from school, but I didn%u2019t know w'hat else to do,%u201d she says. When she returned she could not reenter her public school because she was pregnant.%u201cI tried to apply for a program for pregnant girls,%u201d she says. %u201cBut they said I%u2019d have to go an extra year. So I just decided to forget about it.%u201d Vega said that after Jonathan was born she attempted to enter various local business programs, but had difficulty finding childcare. The YWCA program provides on-site daycare for many of the students, free of charge. (The program itself is free).%u201cMost of those tries lasted one day because I had problems with my public assistance and couldn%u2019t find people to take care of Jonathan. I knew that I wanted to work, but childcare is a problem especially with a baby.%u201dCLASSES ARE GROWINGGED programs are growing in numbers, especially in New York City where the dropout rate is high, and unemployment rampant. The diploma is a decisive edge in some cases. The City Board of Education administers most of the programs, which are free and offered through various social service organizations and colleges. The YWCA program is limited to women participants, and meets during the morninghours. Young women in the Skills Get Jobs Program take the GED prep in the morning and practice various secretarial skills in the afternoon. For them, the day is designed much the same as a regular work day.%u201cWhen you get a job,%u201d says Debbie Sauldsberry, counselling specialist for the program, %u201cyou aren%u2019t going to be able to be that flexible. This job trains the women to learn to deal with a nine-to-five job.%u201d The pile of applications on Sauldsberry%u2019s desk signal the popularity of the program that is limited to just 30 teen mothers.%u201cWe don%u2019t have the facilities for more,%u201d she says. %u201cWe don%u2019t really have a limit on the GED program, though. That is open to any woman.%u201d The GED programs prepare students for a test that will enable them to become certified high school graduates. Students study reading, math, social studies, science and a host of other subjects prior to taking the test, which is usually the culmination of the course. In the YW program, Vega says the success rate is high. %u201cIt was difficult, but I felt prepared.%u201dWhile the YWCA program appears to entice the inner-city drop-out to its doors, theCarroll Gardens Neighborhood Women program attracts a slightly different crowd. Many of the women who take the training at the office on Smith Street left school because of marriage or family obligations and are returning much later. Many of the students are housewives who want to help their children with homework, or who want to re-enter the workforce. The Carroll Gardens Neighborhood Women also has a college program where many of those who earn GED certificates go on to greater degrees.LIU DOES IT ALLLong Island University%u2019s Brooklyn campus takes that notion one step further, and offers a combination of high school/college credit. The program insures a high school diploma after 24 credits are earned in classes taken in the continuing education department. A college spokesperson said most of the students continue to work on their college degrees at LIU. This course of study differs from the mainstream GED as no test is taken. Regular GED courses are given at LIU in addition to this special program. This fall the course begins on October 6 and runs for 10 weeks. Unlike many of the community-based efforts there is a $230 fee, including a non-refundable $30 fee for testing and registration. The program includes small classes, test preparation, day or evening classes, study skills development and personal academic counseling.Nancy Vega says when she left school she never imagined her life would hinge on the diploma. %u201cThat determination to get my diploma never left me,%u201d she says. %u201cI knew that school is important, but I didn%u2019t know it would be so difficult. I think education and learning job skills are very important.%u201dSauldsberry agrees. %u201cMany of the young women who come here are motivated to learn and find jobs. They know that a high school diploma is important, and they want to learn. Some of them are very motivated and don%u2019t like it when we have a day off, although there are those students who are quite pleased,%u201d she adds, smiling. %u201cI guess it%u2019s like any classroom.%u201d%u201cSome people just think they want the education,%u201d Vega says. %u201cBut if you leave school and have to go back there are barriers that weren%u2019t there before. It is more difficult. Some girls come in here and realize this isn%u2019t for them. I got this job, and I got off public assistance. That was just great. I could not have done it without this program.%u201dSeveral Local ClassesBegin In SeptemberPreparation for the Graduation Equivalency Diploma Test is offered through various social services agencies and colleges throughout the borough of Brooklyn. It is administered by the Basic Skills department of the State Board of Education. Although times and places are still being set up, the Basic Skills department reports that the programs will be in place after September 15. For the location nearest you, call Basic Skills at 522-7530.The Carroll Gardens Neighborhood Women will offer its GED course beginning Wednesday September 17. Classes run from 6-9pm, beginning on the 17th, which is a Wednesday. Registration is required. The Carroll Gardens Neighborhood Women is located at 294 Smith Street. Call 624-3475 for more information.The GED program at Long Island University will begin on October 6 and run through December 18. The course will be offered at the University%u2019s Brooklyn campus, comer of DeKalb and Flatbush Avenue. Tuition is $230, including a non-refundable $30 fee for testing and registration. Registration for the course will be held September 17 and 25, 11am or 5:30pm; Sept. 27 at 11am; October 1, 3pm or 5:30pm; and Oct. 2 ,11am or 5:30pm. For an appointment or more information, call 403-1020.The Open Book, 441 Fourth Avenue also offers a GED program. Free classes are set to begin in the fall. Morning classes meet 9-12 and evening classes from 6-9pm; three times a week. For additional information, or registration contact the Open Book at 788-0666. - T.G.There are some days whenyou want to forget it. It'snot worth it. But I wantedto do something better formyself and Jonathan. Itwasn V just me.Computers Are Sign Of The Times At Parochial SchoolsBY JARED R. CLOUD Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School, Bishop Ford Central High, St. Saviour High, and St. Joseph High are four downtown area Catholic high schools where classes are set to start Sept. 3.Enhancement of learning through the use of computers seems to be fast becoming a trend at Ft. Greene%u2019s co-ed Bishop Loughlin%u2019s art department will begin a computer graphics course this fall. The school%u2019s standard course in study skills for freshmen will now include learning how to use a computer to edit-as one is writing. In addition courses will teach comDuters to aid testing skills (especially with standardized tests like the S.A.T.).Bishop Ford, which is co-ed, and St. Joseph, an all-girls school, will both continue existing computer programs.Bishop Ford, located on 19th St., has alsoexpanded its science program, most noticeably in zoology. The school has its own zoo, with over 100 animals, which is maintained by the students. Bishop Loughlin is acting as a testing ground for a new textbook on biology, tying it into the other sciences, published by Harcourt,Brace & Jovanovich, for sophomores.Special events have also been put on the schedule for the year. St. Saviour in Park Slope will hold its induction ceremony for seniors into the National Honors Society on September 22, at the first general meeting for parents. Bishop Ford will hold a 25th anniversary mass with Bishop Mugavero on February 4 to mark the event, as well as the school%u2019s new honors program for freshmen, sophomores and juniors.Looking ahead to graduation for its students, there is a College Mini Fair at St. Saviour on September 16.St. Joseph, located in Downtown Brooklyn, is a college-preparatory school, but it also has a business education program for students who seek to go to work immediately after graduation. The program includes instruction in secretarial skills, shorthand, business computing, and there is a work program for students after school. Bishop Loughlin also has business classes, including an office practice course, with an emphasis on word processing.Among new courses planned, Bishop Loughlin is reintroducing a course on the religious aspects of death and dying. The school also has a special elective combination of psychology ana street law. m ere is a special course for native Spanish speakers focusing on the aspects of Spanish culture and various sub-cultures. Seniors can act as tutorial assistants after four years of a foreign language.Bishop Loughlin Memorial High, 357 Clermont Avenue, telephone 857-2700. Principal, Brother Daniel Casey. 1,150 students. Classes start on September 8.Bishop Ford Central High School, 500 19th Street, 965-6400. Principal, Brother Michael Bettigole. 3,837 students. Classes start Sept. 3 for freshman; all other grades, Sept. 4.St. Joseph%u2019s, 80 Willoughby Street, 624-3618. Principal, Sister Joan McAvoy.500 students. Classes start Sept. 3 forfreshmen and sophomores; Sept. 4 for juniors and seniors.St. Saviour, 588 6th Street. 768-4406. Principal, aisier IVIai y nivuica O%u2019CuiDOr. Classes start September 3.P ag e 16. T H E P H O E N IX , S e p te m b e r 4, 1986