The Adult Education School has highlighted the successes of former students as it seeks donor support to help it continue to “transform lives and strengthen the community”.

Joan Dillas-Wright, the President of the Senate, along with Patrice Frith Hayward, a multi-skilled life coach and Kevin Simpson, a government stamp duty officer, shared how the school propelled them professionally.

Arlene Brock, the school’s managing director and Bermuda’s first ombudsman, said thousands of Bermudians were making key contributions to society after “turning their lives around” at AES.

Ms Brock said: “We are extremely proud of the wonderful impact our thousands of alumni have made in Bermuda throughout the past 68 years.

“The Adult Education School is here to help people find a pathway to success, particularly when traditional educational routes have not worked for them.

“However, like many charities in Bermuda today, we have found increasing challenges as we try to meet our mandate in the present fundraising climate.

“We thank all our generous donors for their excellent support, but in the coming weeks we will be calling on all of Bermuda to do what they can to ensure the school can continue its role of transforming lives and strengthening our community.”

The school, a charitable entity, provides free, individualised support to learners in the form of GED classes and pathway coordination.

Merle Brock Swan Williams, an educator, formed the school to provide support for young people she believed were not suited to the orthodox classroom style.

More than 4,000 students have graduated from AES since its launch in 1958, with many going on to become leaders in business, government and non-profits.

Ms Dillas-Wright, who pursued a career in nursing and health administration, said her educational journey had not always been easy.

Family issues and the cost of secondary school fees forced her to leave The Berkeley Institute after one year of tuition.

She completed secretarial courses at the adult school.

Ms Dillas-Wright recalled: “What I learnt about myself at the time is that you should not lose sight of your career objective, even if your financial circumstances change. Where there is a will, there will always be a way.”

She had the good fortune to get private tuition from other teachers in biology, maths and first aid, leading to a job as a ward maid at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital.

“With the encouragement of Merle Brock Swan Williams, my father and others, I was able to achieve my objective to travel to England and study nursing,” she said.

“Today, I can say I have had a most rewarding career in nursing, health administration and politics in my home country, Bermuda.”

Ms Dillas-Wright was director of nursing at St Brendan’s Hospital, now the Mid-Atlantic Wellness Institute, in the 1990s and served as chief executive of the Bermuda Hospitals Board.

In 2008, she was appointed a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for services to healthcare in Bermuda.

The school, which relaunched on Dundonald Street in 2022 after a temporary closure during the Covid-19 pandemic, is seeing a marked increase in student enrolment.

More than 75 learners are now receiving academic or pathway support, and 39 people have graduated with their GEDs since the relaunch.

Ms Frith Hayward, now a published author, playwright and radio show host, was referred to the school in the late 1970s while a student of The Berkeley Institute. She enrolled there again in 1994.

“I dropped out of Berkeley after repeating my fourth year,” she said. “I never took the fifth-year class and never graduated. I was intelligent — great in English, reading and writing — but thought I already knew it all and played a lot in school.”

She completed the GED at AES, enabling her to study broadcast journalism at a college overseas.

Today, she works as a professional development facilitator, public speaker and television talk show host.

She said: “Leaving high school without a diploma doesn’t mean life is over; it just means you took a detour.

“Life teaches us lessons outside the classroom, but that doesn’t erase our ability to grow, learn and bounce back.”

Her message to young people who might be struggling at school is: “Don’t let shame, fear or time convince you that you can’t do it. You can. Believe in your ability to start again, no matter how long it takes.”

Mr Simpson graduated from AES when he was 26, in 2003.

He recalled having a hard time focusing at St George’s Secondary School, later embarking on a job in construction.

He said: “There was a wonderful gentleman I was working with, who told me, ‘If you don’t plan your life, someone will plan it for you’.”

Mr Simpson joined AES and immediately made academic progress.

“With everything that was going on in my life, getting up at 6.30am to work, I had developed better discipline and task management,” he said.

Mr Simpson quickly passed three of the four GED subjects, but maths proved the toughest hurdle.

He said: “I had failed maths, so I knew I had to dig in and really study for maths. In the end, I passed by one point.

“I went on to Bermuda College, then a law degree and training school, but it was that one extra point at the Adult Education School that means the most. I am truly grateful.”

• To learn more about the Adult Education School and its programmes, visitwww.aesbda.org/The Adult Education School, or make a donation atwww.ptix.bm/Event/7949/The-Adult-Education-School