Beasley family knows value of education and ECTC

By JOYCE BEASLEY
Guest columnist

The Beasley family's emphasis on education has resulted in nine children beginning post-secondary work at Elizabethtown Community and Technical College. They are, standing from left, Alisha O'Connor, Andrew Beasley, Jeremiah Furman, Risa Richardson, Michael Beasley, Jerome Beasley Sr.; seated, Samuel Beasley, Eulaun Beasley, Jerome Beasley Jr. and their mother Joyce Beasley. Her two younger children also are on course for a community college education, she says.

My mom determined that all of my brothers and sisters would attend college or some other form of higher learning after high school. I could hear the finality in my Mom’s voice that high school was not our last stop in the educational world.

I continued my mother’s legacy with my children and launched my own Cradle-to-College campaign. When I wanted to make my point more clear to my children, I began teaching the rhyme “Go to college to get more knowledge” which earned the same importance as the “ABC” song at our house. This rhyme was sung by some of my little ones as early as age 2.

With “college” becoming a household word at our house, my husband and I set about to make sure this stage in our lives and our children’s lives would become a reality. Similar to my Mom, who lacked money to send us to college, we both had faith that it would somehow happen.

My husband and I never really felt money would be an issue, and trusted the way would be made, as this was a must in this world, especially for African-American children. We believed if we spoke it we could receive it, Proverbs 18:20-21.

My first year of teaching was in a small eastern Kentucky town and I was torn by the fact so many families had no intentions of sending their children to college or vocational school. Thus, I set about to educate and encourage all of my students to attend higher education after high school.

Being a teacher of children with various learning challenges made me even more determined they should have a chance of obtaining a career via college or vocational school. Many of my special needs children beat the odds of this ever happening as sometimes doctors, teachers and parents feel this is not a reality for their patient, student or child.

Encouragement and high expectations go a long way in this process.

The decision to send our children to ECC at that time and now ECTC was one of the best decisions we ever made. Our small-town, stay-in-your-corner-of-the-world, mind-your-manners and respect-all-adults doctrine helped our children evolve into free-speaking, civic-minded citizens of the world.

This small community brought out so many talents in my children, many of which I never knew existed. They became involved in student government and served on boards with outstanding adults in this community. This would not have happened in a four-year university setting. Although community college may not be a fit for all children who seek higher learning after high school, it has been a wonderful experience and blessing for my family.

My daughter had an opportunity to speak at the KCTCS news conference Feb. 12 in Frankfort to explain the Super Sunday emphasis on minority enrollment and I was proud to hear the educational credentials of my children.

Allow me to share:

• My oldest, Risa, 38, earned an associate in arts in 1994 at ECTC and then transferred to Western Kentucky University where she earned a print journalism degree in 1997. She worked as a journalist for nearly 15 years and now is the volunteer coordinator for Lexington Habitat for Humanity.
• Next, Jeremiah, 33, attended ECTC from 1998 to 2000 before moving to Louisville, where he attended the police academy and later became a police officer.
• Jerome, 31, earned an associate in arts and science from ECTC. He transferred to the University of Kentucky, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in family and consumer sciences in 2008, and now works with individuals with disabilities.
• Eulaun, 30, attended ECTC from 2001 to 2003. He transferred to UK, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology, then to Northern Kentucky University, where he earned a master’s degree in industrial organizations in psychology. He is a store manager in Lexington.
• Alisha, 28, earned an associate degree in 2004 at ECTC. That gave her the foundation to earn a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in elementary education, both from the University of Louisville. She teaches second grade in Jefferson County Public Schools.
• Samuel, 27, attended ECTC from 2003 to 2005, transferred to UK where he earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology, then went on to earn a master’s degree in counseling and counselor education at Indiana University. He is at the University of Texas in Austin, where he is raising the bar for his younger siblings by earning a Ph.D. in counseling psychology.
• The next oldest boys, Jonathan and Daniel, ages 25 and 23, attempted to bypass the community college system, but they found it hard to buck tradition. Jonathan plans to return to UK in Lexington for a bachelor’s degree in psychology and then possibly pursue a career as a mortician. Daniel now is a student at Bluegrass Community and Technical College in Lexington. He hopes to become a social worker.
• Andrew earned an associate in arts in 2012. At age 20, he is in the honors program and is a member of the Phi Theta Kappa Honors Society at Eastern Kentucky University, where he is pursuing a degree in criminal justice.
• Michael, 18, is a student at ECTC and plans to earn an associate in arts in 2014.
• My youngest, Larry, 16, is a sophomore at Elizabethtown High School, and it has been determined by his parents and his big brothers and sisters that he, too, will attend ECTC.

My cradle-to-college campaign has worked for my own children and I’m confident the legacy will continue to gain momentum through the generations. I pray that my grandchildren and great-grandchildren will enjoy the benefits of higher education, especially the advantages of a community college education.

Joyce Beasley of Elizabethtown is an educator and mother of 11.