PEORIA, Illinois—July 11, 2013— Please join the Moonlight Coalition for Adult Learning (“Moonlight”) and Proctor Center as they celebrate eight Moonlight students who have earned their GED certificates this year.
The graduation ceremony will take place at Proctor Center on Monday, July 15, 2013 at 5:30 p.m. Representative Jehan Gordon-Booth will deliver a commencement address to the graduates, their families, and friends.
“I am honored to have helped these students as they worked so hard to earn this achievement,” said Hedy Elliott-Gardner, who serves as Moonlight’s Coordinator. “I am so pleased to be able to help them celebrate this occasion as other graduates do.”
The Moonlight Coalition for Adult Learning was originally established in 1994 to provide organized activities to young members of the community as a positive alternative to juvenile delinquency and crime. Organized sports like basketball were combined with GED instruction as a way to break down barriers for those who thought formal education wasn’t accessible or “cool.”
Today, Moonlight focuses on providing easy access to GED education for those seeking to earn their high school diploma. In direct contrast to other programs that only take new students at the beginning of each semester and that are located outside of our local community, Moonlight focuses on providing accessible open education opportunities, reaching those in need of support in the communities where they live and work.
Staying true to its origins, Moonlight also works to ensure accessibility to quality recreational facilities for all members of the community, especially youth and the underserved.
Moonlight was a recipient of a recent LISC Early Action grant that will help the program as it seeks to offer more GED and recreational programming at Proctor and other neighborhood facilities throughout Peoria. It continues to fundraise in support of its mission. Updates on Moonlight’s programming and student achievement may be found at its Facebook page at www.facebook.com/MoonlightPeoria.