As she stood with her fellow graduates in the hallways of Berkeley High on Tuesday evening, 39-year-old Lavone Seaward said she was feeling nervous – but excited.
Nervous because, of course, walking the stage in front of a crowd can be overwhelming, but excited for all the right reasons – she is starting a new chapter of her life, armed with her GED.
All of Berkeley County School District’s graduations are an exciting time, but the Adult Education graduation hits a little differently. The ceremony celebrates a couple different groups of people: those who completed the English as a Second Language program, those who did the High School Diploma program, and those, like Seaward, who finished the High School Equivalency Diploma/GED program. The class of 2024 celebrated with friends and family inside Berkeley High’s auditorium on May 28. VIEW PHOTOS.
Going back to school is not an easy path to take – it certainly was not for Seaward; it actually took her three attempts at going back to school for this to become a reality.
However Seaward now wants other adults on the fence about going back to school to understand that it is hard, but it can be done – and that BCSD Adult Ed welcomed her with open arms, describing the program and its teachers as a place that felt like home.
“It definitely wasn’t an easy road, but I’m happy I’m here,” she said.
Seaward grew up in the Bronx, mostly raised by her mom and grandmother. She was in high school when her mom got sick with multiple sclerosis, and as the disease progressed she needed more help at home. Seaward also had a younger sister with children who she would help as well.
Seaward would miss school days to take care of her mom and, eventually, missed so many days that she was kicked out of school. Her mom was in the hospital at this point in time. Seaward decided to go ahead and get a job at a Wendy’s, and split her time between there and helping her mom and sister at home.
The first time Seaward attempted to get her GED was when she was 19 years old and still living in New York. However, she when she got pregnant with her first son, she battled intense nausea for a majority of the pregnancy, making it hard to attend classes.
Seaward and her husband later moved to York, Pennsylvania to be closer to his family; her oldest son was about four years old and her second son was a baby. Seaward made a second attempt to get her GED, but this ended up easier said than done because not only did she need help taking care of her boys, she also did not have a driver’s license (which is common living in New York), so she did not have the transportation needed to get herself to evening classes.
Seaward and her family eventually moved to South Carolina to be closer to Seaward’s twin sister and her family. The family has resided in Moncks Corner for 10 years and Seaward now has four boys.
Three of her children have gone through the Head Start program in BCSD. Head Start is a free federally funded comprehensive program designed to promote school readiness for preschool children and families that meet income eligibility requirements.
Seaward has been an avid Heart Start parent volunteer for a while now, and is well acquainted with Betty Pressley, who is over Head Start for the district; Pressley saw how hard Seaward worked as a volunteer and encouraged her to check out BCSD’s Adult Education program so that she could work toward a job in Head Start herself.
Seaward initially faced challenges with juggling work at Bi-Lo and caring for her children but last fall she finally signed up for the program. She passed her last GED test back in January.
Seaward said the adult education teachers are very patient with their students and that she had a lot of help from them – she particularly named Terri Edens and Brandi Vangorder, the latter of whom really helped her with her worst subject: math.
“Math has always been a subject that…needs to be taught to me a certain way,” she said. “Ms. V was really patient with me…Brandi is amazing.”
Seaward said passing the math test took a couple of attempts, but when she finally got that last score back in January, she was so excited she cried. Her family celebrated by taking her out to dinner.
“My kids were all excited – ‘Mom, I knew you could do it,’” she recalled.
Seaward is already working as a teacher at the House of Smiles daycare center in Moncks Corner. She was named Teacher of the Month for the month of May.
In the announcement about her being Teacher of the Month, House of Smiles described Seaward as someone who is “so motivated to do the most possible with each and every child…She is the kind of teacher each parent wants for their child.”
Getting her GED has also allowed her to further her studies, and Seaward really wants to pursue a career in Head Start. She has just started summer classes for Trident Technical College’s Early Childhood Development certificate program; the program prepares students to work primarily funded programs like Head Start.
Now she excited to keep up the hard work and continue making a positive difference in the lives of children in Berkeley County.
“It’s a comfort to be with the kids and know that I’m helping,” she said.
