Cynthia Arrington / WSCC
HANCEVILLE – Cynthia Arrington has been named Wallace State’s new Adult Education director.
Arrington, a Hanceville native, inherits the position after serving as an Adult Education instructor for Wallace State since last November. Before joining Wallace State, Arrington previously worked as an adjunct instructor at Miles College, Virginia College and UAB after retiring from a management career at BellSouth and AT&T in Birmingham.
“I’m definitely excited to be a part of the strong reputation our Adult Education program has, and to help it grow. I get a lot of satisfaction in watching adults fulfill their goals and dreams,” Arrington said. “This job is a culmination of everything I’ve done. We are here to manage and teach adults as they work to achieve a degree.”
Among her previous duties as a Wallace State Adult Education instructor, Arrington worked specifically with students in welding, culinary arts, electronics technology, engineering technology and horticulture, focusing primarily on soft skills instruction.
Arrington has hit the ground running by already visiting a couple of Wallace State’s off-campus Adult Education sites. Along with classes on campus in Hanceville, Wallace State has Adult Education classes taught at selected off-campus sites in Blount, Cullman, Morgan and Winston Counties. There are 15 off-campus sites in all, including at churches, community centers, correctional facilities and rehabilitation centers. Online classes are also available for students to earn their GED (general education development) degree.
Arrington wants to see the off-campus sites continue to be valuable destinations for Adult Education students. She will also be focusing on the Bridge to Opportunity program with area judges, which provides for probationers without a high school diploma or GED to attend the adult education classes.
“It’s impressive to see the partnerships we have forged off-campus. I want to establish some best practices to make sure the structure is the same at the off-campus sites as it is at the main campus,” said Arrington. “Our job is to give the students short-term and long-term goals, so they can see success along the way and have a graduation date in sight.”
One of the newest options for Adult Education students is the nontraditional high school diploma, which allows students who either dropped out of high school without earning the essential number of credits to graduate or who failed certain sections of the former Alabama High School Graduation Exam to complete their high school diploma.
Many of the Adult Education graduates last May completed the necessary classes to earn the nontraditional high school diploma.
“You can look at the faces of the graduates and their families at graduation and see how proud they are of accomplishing a goal. As adults, we have more walls built up, but it’s a matter of finding success as we break down those walls. Eventually, the light comes on. In this profession, you are always working for that light,” Arrington said. “No matter the level, getting an education is probably the most selfish thing you can do, and it’s so rewarding.”
Arrington also wants her instructors to encourage GED graduates to continue their education at Wallace State and have them properly prepared to enter the workforce when they choose to do so.
Arrington holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a specialty in management from Birmingham-Southern and a master’s degree in management from Faulkner University. She replaces John Glasscock as the Adult Education director after Dr. Kelley Jones held the post from 2006 to 2016.
For more information about the Wallace State Adult Education program, contact Arrington at 256-352-8077 or Jamie Robertson at 256-352-8078.
Learn more about the Adult Education program at www.wallacestate.edu/programs/adult-education.
For more information about Wallace State, visit www.wallacestate.edu.
