Making a Difference One Graduate at a Time
Roanoke Valley Alleghany Region 5 Adult Education Classes Important Here | By Jennifer Bailey
Staff Writer |
Covington, VA (Feb. 6, 2025) — In a world where education serves as a pivotal cornerstone for personal and professional advancement, the transformative power of achieving a GED (General Educational Development) credential cannot be overstated. Perhaps no one knows this better than Tony Petrosky, a man who entered the field of education in 1986 and has been at the forefront of the Roanoke Valley Alleghany Region 5 Adult Education and GED Preparation classes as their program coordinator.
The Roanoke Valley Alleghany Region 5 Adult Education and GED Preparation classes are currently hosted in the upstairs portion of the Alleghany Highlands Regional Library, located at 406 W. Riverside Street in Covington. Petrosky, we've learned, is a passionate advocate who is dedicated to empowering individuals through accessible and affordable adult education programs.
We sat down with Petrosky on the afternoon of Thursday, February 6, to get additional information on the classes that have helped shape a number of adult futures, including their most recent success story, Tyler Ross. Now armed with his GED, Ross now assists Petrosky in furthering adult education by teaching alongside him, proving Plato's philosophy true: "The student has become the master."
After giving us a brief background about his teaching journey, Tony Petrosky dove deeper into the government-funded program that has opened doors for many individuals 18 and over, though some exceptions apply for younger students. "Basically, anybody that has not been able to complete 4 years of high school and get their diploma [qualifies]," Petrosky said. Currently, the Region 5 branch offers not only GED preparation classes, but also includes a National External Diploma Program (NEDP) for participating high schools, an English as a Second Language (ESL) program, and career training classes.
The NEDP program, just like the well-known GED program, allows those who were unable to complete high school for whatever reason a unique opportunity to receive a high school diploma from any high school that participates in it. Currently, Alleghany High School is not among those who participates in the program, though Petrosky anticipates that it will someday. The Region 5 Alleghany Branch also does not include an ESL program, as Petrosky is the main educator and so, is unable to lead both an ESL program and the GED program simultaneously.
To register for the program, one must first reach out to Tony Petrosky by calling his personal cell phone number at 540-958-8124 to set up an appointment, fill out a registration form, and then take a CASAS placement test. It is not a pass/fail test, however, but one similar to placement tests taken in a college forum. "CASAS allows me to know basically what grade level in math you're working on because if you're working on a 9th or 10th grade level math, then I'm not going to try and start you on basic multiplying and dividing whole numbers." CASAS also tests where students are in terms of reading and writing.
When asked what else he might want potential students to know, Petrosky stated, "The one thing I want to make clear is that I would never prompt this to be a substitute for staying in school for the 12 years. It's [staying in school] is a lot easier because everyone that comes, I always hear, 'I wish I had stayed in school,'" the longtime educator said. "... So, if anybody out there is thinking about dropping out, don't drop out. But, if you did drop out, come see me."
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