ST. LOUIS — In this post-COVID era, the job market is in-flux, and many people are re-examining their priorities and changing careers. That has many people working on completing their high school education.
Missouri Excel Centers, sponsored by MERS Goodwill, is opening a new location in Florissant.
It’s a program where you earn a traditional high school diploma, not a GED.
For years, Dr. Eric Knost engaged children as superintendent at Mehlville and Rockwood school districts in St. Louis County. He’s still engaging children, except the kids in the daycare at Missouri Excel Center’s downtown location are not his students.
Their parents are.
Knost is now superintendent of Missouri Excel Centers, a Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE)-accredited high school for people ages 21 and older. Florissant is the sixth location. They also have facilities in Columbia, Poplar Bluff, Springfield and Cape Girardeau.
“The amount of courage it takes,” said Knost. “Oh, people go to college, but a lot of our students simultaneously have children in high school.”
At the downtown location, 5 On Your Side met Tabbatha Johnson in one of the rooms where she attended class last year. Now, she is anticipating graduation.
“That was health and wellness class,” said Johnson. “I started out with zero credits. And to be able to have the full 24 in May is truly a blessing.”
Missouri Excel Center terms are eight weeks long, and the programs are in session year-round. Starting in 2018, the program has more than 800 graduates.
Dr. Ramona Nnawke is the director of the new Florissant Excel Center.
“Instead of a student making everything based on academics, like how I grew up,” she said. “They have electives that look at soft skills – effective communication, conflict resolution, figuring out an individualized career plan.”
Knost said data shows six months after Missouri Excel Center students graduate, they’re making a wage that is 37% higher than minimum wage. Students often enroll in dual credit courses, and then go on to college. Excel Center students also achieve IRC’S – Industry Recognized Certifications – for jobs in the medical field, for instance, or to obtain a commercial driver’s license.
Graduates have gone to work in several different industries.
“The quality is there, the expectations are there, and the patience is there for our students to help them go at whatever pace,” said Knost. “I always tell our students – if you’re moving forward, you’re succeeding.”
Knost and a 5 On Your Side reporter met graduate Angela Norman while waiting for an elevator in the building.
“This is me and my daughter,” said Norman, displaying a photo on her phone. Norman graduated from the program last month.
“Yes!” she exclaimed, raising her arms in the air. “I worked hard for it – two years. I worked really hard for this.”
“Were you here with your daughter the whole time?” Knost asked her.
“No,” Norman replied. “My daughter started after I did.”
Norman was fighting back tears.
“I’m just happy,” she said. “I’m out of school, right now.”
Tears of joy.
“Yes, sir,” she said, laughing. “Yes, sir.”