by Kelly Rogge
A Kansas City Kansas Community College graduate will be the featured speaker at the KCKCC GED ceremony Tuesday.
Elitha Barnett grew up in Wyandotte County. She attended Quindaro Elementary School, Argentine Middle School, Wyandotte High School and later Washington High School, where she dropped out in the 10th grade after becoming pregnant. After giving birth to her daughter, she became pregnant with her son three years later.
As her children grew older and began to attend school, she realized that in order to help her children succeed, she would need to get an education herself.
When she was 27-years-old, she decided to enroll in the GED program at KCKCC. After receiving her GED, she enrolled in college courses at the community college and graduated summa cum laude, receiving her Associates in Applied Science. Throughout the years, Elitha developed an interest in computer hardware and software.
She now attends Park University in Parkville, Mo. where she is studying information technology and computer science. Her plan is to go on to receive her master’s degree and become an instructor at KCKCC.
The GED graduation is at 6 p.m. tonight at the KCKCC Field House, 7250 State Ave. It is the second of five graduations this week, including the main campus KCKCC graduation at 8 p.m. Wednesday, also at the KCKCC Field House. The Nurses’ Pinning Ceremony follows the GED graduation at 8 p.m. The week ends with the Physical Therapy Assistant graduation at 7 p.m. Thursday at the KCKCC-TEC.
All commencement ceremonies are open to the public.
For more information on Kansas City Kansas Community College, visit its website at www.kckcc.edu.