Overcoming barriers: How Excel Center helps adults earn high school diploma

The first time Courtney Cissell arrived at the MERS/Goodwill Excel Center, she didn't go inside.

A high school dropout, Cissell was interested in earning a diploma and furthering her education. After learning the Excel Center offered adults 21 and older an opportunity to earn a high school diploma at no cost, she knew she wanted to attend.

But taking that first step was intimidating.

Cissell — a stay-at-home mother of four — left the Excel Center parking lot, and wouldn't be back until the following week. The second time, she made it through the doors, but the term had already begun. Luckily for Cissell, she was still able to enroll.

"It wasn't too late," she said. "I came in, I filled out the paperwork and that was that. I was told that I could come in and I'll have a schedule when I got here on the following Monday."

Excel Center director Blane Keel expressed his pride in all the students who choose to continue their high school education.

"It takes courage to walk in that front door to a place that you don't know anything about, or how you're going to be greeted, or how you're going to be looked at or judged," Keel said. "We try to build a culture here that there is no judgment. It doesn't matter why you didn't get your diploma. We just want you to be successful now, and we're going to help you to get to be successful now."

Prospective students must first complete reading, writing, math and technology assessments before being enrolled. Keel said this process gives center administration an idea of each student's abilities.

"A lot of those things you did in school are perishable," Keel said. "If you don't continue to do them, you'll get rusty on them, you'll forget about them and all that stuff. So we want to meet them where they're at currently."

After completing the assessment, students have a one-on-one interview to identify potential barriers such as a lack of transportation, child care and housing problems. Keel said the center works with each student to help remove the identified barriers.

"One of the things that we knew was a big deal was child care, so every Excel Center in this state has a child care facility where a student can bring their child while they're in class free of charge," Keel said. "We provide day care free of charge, daytime and evening, so if they can come for one hour, then their child can be in the day care for one hour while mom's in class or dad's in class. We have the students that do that, bring them for just an hour and we have students that bring them and then they're here all day long.

"That's a barrier removal. We work with them to identify whatever might be keeping them from succeeding, and we work with them on that."

The center, which opened in 2022, is considered a private school by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, and each of the three teachers on staff is certified to teach their respective subjects. Students must obtain 24 credits to receive their diploma. The Excel Center works with them to get their high school transcript, and each student's schedule is set accordingly to ensure they receive the required number.

Each term lasts eight weeks, and the center offers five terms per year. Classes last 75 minutes and students can take as many or as few as their schedule allows. Cissell said being a stay-at-home mom has helped make it possible for her to attend.

"If I had a job, it would make it more difficult, because I still have a job when I go home," Cissell said. "I have three classes a day. I get out at 1:15 and then I go home, and I'm doing the dishes and the laundry. Then, I'm cooking, my kids are getting home from school and then it's bedtime routines. Right now it's not too bad, it's not too much and I can manage it. But I think if I had a job, it would make it a little harder.

"The fact that they have the night classes; at some point that might help me if I could find a daytime job."

In addition to classes and the other services the center provides, each student is paired up with a life coach who assists them with potential barriers keeping them from attending, scheduling classes and looking for opportunities for students to receive extra training at the Excel Center through industry-recognized credentials, which can help a student "step up in the front of the line for somebody that you know might be hiring."

"That's what we want them to do," Keel said. "(We want them) to be able to leave here ready to function in the world and get a career that they want to get."

The Excel Center held its first graduation ceremony May 17 when 12 students were recognized. Keel said the current plan is to have one graduation ceremony each year, recognizing all the students who received their diplomas regardless of when they completed the program. Upon graduation, Cissell said she plans to continue her education and work toward a college degree, although she's not sure what she plans to study.

To prospective students who may be on the fence about enrolling, Cissell encourages them to not overthink and to "just do it."

"Honestly, because I did overthink a little bit, it took me a while," Cissell said. "Just don't overthink it. Just come in and do it, and you won't regret it."

The MERS/Goodwill Excel Center is at 2106 William St. in Cape Girardeau. Prospective students may register online at http://excel.mersgoodwill.org, or in person at the center.