Donnella Coensgen could not contain her enthusiasm as a moment she’d long awaited drew closer.
“I'm excited,” Coensgen said in anticipation of Wednesday night’s Moonlight Coalition graduation ceremony at Proctor Recreation Center in Peoria. “I'm 47 years old, and even when I went to grade school, you don't have a graduation. So to be able to do this at my age, it's amazing. It really is.”
Coensgen is one of 42 adult learners receiving their GEDs this year from the Moonlight Coalition for Adult Learning.
“For me, it never gets old,” said program director Hedy Elliott. “Every time someone completes their GED – and I've taught thousands of adult students, probably roughly 4,000 adult students in my lifetime – and every single one of them, I'm equally as excited as the first graduate ever. It's just so neat to see people just living their dream and really trying so hard.”
Coensgen said she was first informed about the Moonlight Coalition program by another program graduate, Norma Stubbs.
“I had talked with her about it, so then I looked into it and I went down (and) I took my tests,” said Coensgen. “And they're like, ‘Come on, let's do this.’ I was there, what, two weeks and went and took my reading (exam) and I passed it the first go ’round.”
Coensgen said she’s worked in fast food restaurants and warehouses since she stopped attending Peoria Central High School at age 16, over the objection of her mother.
“As a freshman, you want to be able to fit in somewhere and I didn't fit in nowhere,” she said.
Now, Coensgen hopes to build off her GED completion by becoming a certified nursing assistant.
“When I decided to get into working in a nursing home, I had seen the CNAs and how they interacted with the residents and I knew that that was something that I wanted to do,” she said. “But I knew, on the other hand, I needed a GED or high school diploma to be able to pursue that.”
The Moonlight Coalition is offered through the Peoria Park District Foundation. Elliott said she approached the foundation about the need for the programming in the 1990s.
“I've always taught kids during the day and adults in the evening, and in several jobs I had several different opportunities to teach GED in several locations,” said Elliott. “One was at the Peoria County Jail, and I noticed people all the time asking me, ‘When I get out of jail, where do I go?’ I said, ‘I can tutor you down at Proctor Center.
“Well, then I opened Pandora's Box, and everywhere I went, people were, ‘Oh, can you tutor me in GED?’ and, ‘Somebody said that you tutor GED’ and I do. But I didn't expect it to turn into its own school.”
Elliott said the need for adult learning in the Peoria area is immense, with thousands of people who never finished high school.
“In the 61605 zip code alone, 40% of the adults don't hold a high school diploma. So it's really, from an educator's point of view, it's an epidemic,” she said. “If I had 10 programs, I wouldn't scratch the surface.”
Coensgen said she found the positive attitude of Moonlight Coalition instructors and students very welcoming.
“Understanding was one of the key things. ‘I can't make it to class tonight.’ ‘OK, it's fine; we'll see you tomorrow.’ Or, I'm having a hard time comprehending something and my tutor would go over it 100 times until she knew that I understood, and that's just great. I tell everybody about it: ‘You got a high school diploma? Oh, you should go; yeah, you should sign up for this.’”
Elliott noted that while the Moonlight Coalition primarily focuses on GEDs, they offer other educational services as well.
“For instance, if there was a person who was applying for a job at a local factory that required a math test, or students who are maybe going into the trades have to pass certain reading and math tests, we offer an opportunity for students to study for that kind of test as well,” she said.
“Any adult who needs help in any area, whether it be an adult who is going to college and they need free tutoring or working on a GED, or also sometimes we get students who are working on the immigration process, and they need help studying for their citizenship test.”
In addition to the funding through the park district foundation, Elliott said the program relies heavily on donations, philanthropic support, and proceeds from their gift shop at Peoria International Airport.
She said Moonlight Coalition's rolling open enrollment draws between 200 and 300 students each year. She said in order to meet the needs of the students, they divide them by ability level among their 25 volunteer tutors.
“Any person can start any day; if you wake up tomorrow and you want to get your GED, you can start the (next) day that we have a class available,” she said. “We run day and night classes, and we want to make sure that we're not rigid. We need to work with the people who are really trying to move forward, really trying to uplift the economy, is how I see it. We're moving students from unemployed to employed, or underemployed to employed. So we're really excited about what we do.
“I live and breathe GED, so I just run to work every day. But the students, they just really do amazing things. And every graduation is a huge celebration, not only for the students but, I believe, for the city of Peoria.”
Coensgen said anyone who might be thinking of getting a GED shouldn’t be apprehensive about contacting the Moonlight Coalition.
“First of all, there's no reason to be nervous, because when you walk in there, it's like a big family, all the tutors, everybody there,” she said. “I remember my second day, ‘Oh hey, Donnella, glad that you joined us tonight.’ They're so pleasant to be around, and I just feel like everybody – if you have the time, go do it.”
