Graduation ceremonies honoring those individuals who this year have completed the educational requirements to receive a General Education Development diploma will be held Thursday, July 15, at 7 p.m. in the auditorium of the Kirbo Center at Bainbridge College.

Keynote speaker will be Josh Lynn, 2008-09 honor grad and recipient of the award for obtaining the highest GED score last year. Lynn will give an update on the events of his life since his graduation.

An honor grad is defined as a student who scores a total of 3000 and above on the final examinations covering five subjects. Total score needed to achieve a GED is 2250.

Graduate speakers from the class of 2009-10 will be Kayln Leann Phillips from Decatur County and Early County’s Armeta Patel Griffin.

As is often the case, there are family members graduating together this year. Tamara Smith and her son, Nicholas Pitts, are among the grads expected to participate in the ceremony.

This year a total of 140 graduates from this region, 11 of them honor grads, have completed the testing requirements and joined the ranks of more than 15 million people of the United States and Canada who have received their GED since the program began.

According to Wikipedia, the program began following World War II to help veterans return to civilian life.

The Decatur County GED Testing Center serves the four-county region of Decatur, Early, Miller and Seminole.

This will be the 18th annual recognition program for this regional GED center and is coordinated by the Decatur County GED Testing Center, the Adult Education Program and the Decatur County Certified Literate Community Program.

The Bainbridge Rotary Club will again host a reception following the ceremony.

The public is invited to attend and share in the celebration.