At 66 years old, Jerry Gafkin is poised to cross a special item off his bucket list: getting his GED.

It’s an uncommon bucket-list goal, maybe, but for Gafkin, it’s important that he makes it happen.

“You don’t know how much time you have left,” he said.

Currently retired, Gafkin wants to become a peer support specialist — a person who draws on their own lived experiences to support individuals with struggles related to mental health, psychological trauma or substance abuse. Because he will need a GED to become certified, Gafkin decided it was time to get back to his studies.

To that end, he takes classes three days a week at North Idaho College’s Adult Education Center in Post Falls, which was recently relocated to the Idaho Department of Labor building at 600 N. Thornton St. It’s one of five centers serving Idaho’s five northern counties; the other centers are located in Coeur d’Alene, Sandpoint, Bonners Ferry and Silver Valley. Some center locations offer both day and night classes.

Laura Umthun, NIC Adult Education Center director, says the centers serve three primary populations: students who want to earn a GED; NIC students with skills below the high school graduate level in reading, writing, or math; and any adult students who want to upgrade their foundational skills. On an individual level, Adult Education students are endlessly diverse. Each has their own reason for enrolling.

“There are as many reasons for taking GED classes as there are students,” said Barbara Jackson, an instructor at the Post Falls center. “Some became parents at an early age. Some were incarcerated. Some had learning disabilities that their schools didn’t accommodate, or an illness. Some may have been homeless.”

Jerry Gafkin, for example, married when he was 17 years old, which pushed his education to the wayside. When he went back to school, intending to finish, a teacher called him stupid. He walked out that day and never returned. But now, all these years later, the NIC Post Falls Adult Education Center is helping him to finish what he started — and embark on a new career path at the same time.

Mimi Hiibel, another student at the center, stopped attending school when she was in the third grade. She and her younger brother had been removed from their father’s care and placed with their adult sister, who neglected to send them to school. Hiibel says that she essentially had to become a mom to her little brother. As she got older, she never returned to school.

“It’s extremely sad that a kid can drop out at such a young age and nobody cares,” Hibbel said.

Having left school at such a young age, it seemed impossible for her to go back — but a friend encouraged her to do just that, which led her to the center. Between working and being a single mom to her two kids, it’s been hard for Hibbel to make time for her studies. But she’s been attending GED classes for a year, and so far, she’s passed every subject but math. The goal of earning her GED is in sight.

“If I can drop out in the third grade and go back, with two children, anyone can,” Hiibel said. To be eligible for Adult Education classes, prospective students must be 16 years or older, not currently enrolled in any public high school and have skills below the high school graduate level. Instruction is completely free, including course materials.

Gafkin said that the Adult Education staff has been welcoming and supportive.

“There’s a care that I didn’t get when I was in school,” he said. “Barbara (Jackson) is one of those special people who you never think you’re going to meet. She cares about her students. She makes it easy for me to go (to class).”

For more information about NIC Adult Education Center’s orientation and skills review, call (208) 665-5099.

Tutors needed: Volunteers are needed to assist students in basic skill building for reading, writing, and math at any of NIC’s Adult Education Centers as tutors. Volunteers should enjoy working with adult learners and possess good reading, writing or math skills. Volunteers must be available a minimum of two hours per week. Those interested should contact Marty Bruner at the Adult Education Center at (208) 665-5069 or marty.bruner@nic.edu or stop by the center to complete a tutor application form.