Martha O'Bryan Center

The Martha O’Bryan Center’s largest class of GED graduates walked to the Hope Building Gym Sunday, June 27, wearing the black formal cap-and-gown regalia of graduation. They had already had received their diplomas from the State of Tennessee, but that didn’t dampen the excitement, the cheers and the emotions as friends and relatives proudly snapped photos and waved as their graduate walked by.

 

They were headed to a ceremony held in their honor. They were some of the 94 adults to pass their GED tests from the Martha O’Bryan Center since July 1, 2009. That number is nearly three times more than last year’s 34, which had been the previous high.

The students’ success created a problem: there weren't enough caps and gowns for all for all of the graduates to participate in the ceremony. The Center only had 16. After the story ran in the local newspaper and TV stations, the local Herff-Jones representative finally donated the remaining 27 to outfit the participants in Sunday's ceremony.

 

But donations from the community kept pouring in. By the time ceremony rolled around, the Center had about 200 caps and gowns.  

 

As the graduates walked down the aisle of the Martha O’Bryan Center gym on Sunday to the tune of “Pomp and Circumstance,” they were met with cheers in the crowded gym. But the loudest cheer came at the end. That’s when the caps flew into the air and happy graduates hugged, posed for pictures and celebrated their mutual successes.