Road Tripping through New Mexico and my Decision to Not Use the Term “GED” Anymore

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 Yesterday, I headed up the Turquoise Trail to Santa Fe to meet a friend for lunch. How green everything was -- green for New Mexico. We’ve had a good monsoon season, I’d say.

I hadn’t been on that road in a long time and was surprised to see so many people in Madrid. That little town has really capitalized on its uniqueness. I have mixed feelings about that but my daughter and I plan to visit soon and just spend the day checking out all the shops and restaurants. I’ve noticed, too, that there are many upcoming events in the town of Cerrillos, slightly off to the side the Turquoise Trail, and we will probably check some of those out, too.

The drive to Santa Fe via the Turquoise Trail is a short trip but just being out on the road and enjoying the amazing scenery for that long was refreshing. I was invigorated. On the way home, I took I-25 to the Tramway exit and then had the Sandias to look at for many miles. Tramway goes all the way down to Central, and then I took Route 66 to Cedar Crest. This is a good route to take if you are like me and don’t like driving on the interstates.

I’ve got more road trips planned in the next month. I am going up to Penasco to visit with my friend Marlene and talk about setting up GED prep classes in that area. I’d also love to work with someone from the Grants and Gallup areas…Crownpoint…Cuba…the pueblos. If anyone reading this or someone you know is interested in helping me set up classes somewhere, anywhere in NM, let me know and we can talk. Just comment on this post, on the L&LNM Facebook page, or you can email me at liveandlearnnm@gmail.com.

It's Not the GED Anymore
I had some time to think while cruising the Turquoise Trail... it’s time to quit calling this test the GED since there are options now in NM besides Pearson’s GED. I’ve decided to from now on call all of these assessments high school equivalency (HSE) assessments. 

The HiSET and TASC are the alternative high school equivalency assessments allowed by law in this state. They are less expensive than the GED owned by Pearson and they offer paper versions. I’m pretty sure we will not be using the GED at all and we will be going for one of the other tests instead.

For the fall 2015 semester, we are getting set to start up one class at A New Awakening in Rio Rancho – 1207 Golf Course Road. It will be an afternoon/evening class. If there is enough interest, we may have more than one class. Erick Pacheco is the person who is working with me to build this into a legitimate program that can be part of the services they offer.

We will have an orientation the week of August 24. Haven’t ironed out all the details yet but I will keep you informed. Please share this information with anyone you think would be interested. Remember, we are all about learning and building self-confidence, not the GED. Our name is Live and Learn New Mexico! not Live to Test New Mexico.

Okay, that’s all I’ve got for today. Go out and learn something!




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