Blane Keel refers to the students he works with as his “kids” even though most are adults with families.
“Education makes better citizens,” says the MERS Goodwill Poplar Bluff Excel Center director.
Eight of the Poplar Bluff center’s students are slated to receive their high school diplomas during a graduation ceremony Tuesday evening. One of three Excel centers in Missouri that were opened last year, Poplar Bluff’s class is the first to graduate. St. Louis and Springfield centers will hold their ceremonies at the end of the week.
There will be no keynote speaker at this graduation notes Keel. He wants to “keep it about the grads,” he said, not about a speech given by a well-known person. Some of the graduates will address the audience and reflect how completing the Excel Center program has changed them and their lives for the better.
Keel said President Dave Kutchback and other senior executives of Goodwill Industries will also be on hand to congratulate the students.
“Getting the chance to experience this group of students’ academic journey has been amazing,” said Keel. “We are so proud of them for completing this program.”
Keel, a native of the Piedmont area who is a retired Clearwater R-I public school superintendent and previously worked with schools in Oran and Viburnum, says his passion for education aided his coming out of retirement to work at the center.
The Excel Center educational program typically follows eight week sessions Mondays through Thursday, with a daytime schedule and evening options. The flexibility of the program allows students to complete the program at their own pace.
“Adult learners face many obstacles coming into the program,” Keel said, adding they have “lives and families to contend with.” The best advice Keel offers incoming students is to never give up, to “show up and give it your best shot.”
Anyone from Southeast Missouri can enroll in the Excel Center’s programs. They provide ample classroom space and all instructors are teachers certified through the state of Missouri. The center has the space and resources to hold classes for a maximum of 300 students.
Commencement will begin at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the center, located at 2233 N. Westwood Blvd. in the former K-Mart building in Poplar Bluff. A reception will immediately follow the ceremony.
For more information or to sign up for programs contact the Poplar Bluff Excel Center at 573-686-6004 or online at www.excel.mersgoodwill.org .