Former First Lady of Georgia Shirley Miller has championed the cause of accessible education for all, no matter age or circumstance, due to her unwavering belief that everyone deserves the opportunity to improve their lives through literacy and learning.
Thanks to her efforts, the Shirley Miller Adult Education Center for Lifelong Learning opened at 38 Blalock Street in Blairsville in 1996 – before even the advent of North Georgia Technical College’s Blairsville campus.
Continue reading with a subscription.
North Georgia News — serving Union County since 1909.
Cancel anytime.
Her late husband, Young Harris native and former Gov. Zell Miller, signed the legislation to bring the center into being, and it has served the community as a place of second chances ever since.
And now, the center has been gifted a new lease on life with its grand re-opening on Wednesday, March 26.
About a year and a half ago, the center closed for extensive renovations that, according to Instructional Coordinator Paula Ary, needed to be made to ensure the building was up to safety standards. Classes moved to the main campus of North Georgia Tech in the meantime.
NGTC President John Wilkinson welcomed everyone in attendance to open the program last week, and Dean of Adult Education Shelby Ward shared clippings and photos from the original dedication when the building first opened.
“The center represents (Shirley’s) unwavering dedication to education and her lifelong dedication to improve literacy among adults in Georgia,” Ward said, revealing that more than 1,000 students have passed through the doors since that initial opening.
Free of charge, those students can earn their GEDs and take classes in essential skills such as computer literacy. They can also learn workplace literacy, and there are opportunities for integrated educational training, making graduates more likely to find jobs.
Shirley Miller herself was present, and even before being invited to speak, she was eager to explore the facility – especially the computer room, which she poked her head in first. Overall, she was in awe at how “beautiful” it was following the remodeling.
At the podium, Shirley confessed that her lifelong advocacy of literacy and learning was a “labor of love.” Though she could tell “many stories” of her time on and off the campaign trail, she offered some insight into the establishment of the Adult Education Certified Literate Community Program.
Zell Miller launched the program in 1990 to combat low adult literacy rates in the state, thus kickstarting the construction of the Center for Lifelong Learning in Union County in the mid-1990s.
“You folks are all ‘now’ people, and I like to think that I’m a ‘now’ person – a ‘today’ person, a ‘tomorrow’ person, a ‘this month’ person,” Shirley said. “And I just want to let you know that I’ll do my best to spread the word in our community here about what happens in this building.
“I appreciate so much you letting me be a part of this re-dedication today.”
People interested in signing up for adult education may call 706-439-6342 to set up times to take classes; it’s possible to work around schedules. Normal operating hours are Monday through Thursdays, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., and Tuesday and Thursday nights from 4-7 p.m.
“Sometimes, the hardest step that some of our students will ever make is through those doors,” Ward said. “To get the courage to step back into a classroom is 90% of the battle.”
