(Butler, PA) The 41 Butler County adults who in the past year obtained their commonwealth secondary school diplomas through a free Butler County Community College program marking its 40th anniversary will, like their predecessors, experience “brighter futures,” a BC3 administrator said.

A July 15 ceremony on the community college’s main campus in Butler Township will recognize the graduates’ accomplishment – for some, a celebration three decades after dropping out of high school. Their commencement will begin at 6 p.m. in the Succop Theater and be themed “The Beginning of a New Chapter.”

“That,” said Samantha Hartle, grant director of BC3’s Adult Literacy program, “reflects the determination, resilience and hope demonstrated by each graduate as they take the next step toward brighter futures.”

The possession of a high school diploma represented an additional $11,000 in annual earnings for full-time workers age 25 and older in 2024 compared to the pay for those without the credential, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.

“This milestone represents not only academic success,” Hartle said, “but also new opportunities for employment, higher education and personal growth for the individuals and families we serve.”

 

“I see a new me every day. I can’t believe that I actually did get my diploma. I feel so fantastic about being able to get out of my own way and build a future for myself.”

- Karina McKibbin, 19, of Butler

 

The 41 adults include eight inmates at the Butler County Prison in Butler, where the community college has instructed its high school equivalency diploma preparation classes for approximately 10 years, Hartle said.

BC3 also held instruction in 2025-2026 on its main campus, at Pennsylvania CareerLink in Lyndora and online.

The college’s Adult Literacy instructors, tutors and volunteers guide students in mathematics, reading and language arts or writing, science and social studies – subjects that must be passed on General Equivalency Diploma or High School Equivalency Test exams to receive the commonwealth secondary school diploma from the state Department of Education.

“I am so proud,” said Karina McKibbin, 19, of Butler, who with Robin Hysong, 18, of Chicora, has been chosen to address fellow graduates as a student speaker at “The Beginning of a New Chapter.”

“I see a new me every day,” McKibbin said. “I can’t believe that I actually did get my diploma. I feel so fantastic about being able to get out of my own way and build a future for myself.”

McKibbin dropped out of Butler Senior High School as a sophomore in 2023 and briefly left Pennsylvania “because there was a lot going on” in her life.

She said she later “felt useless. I couldn’t get many jobs. I didn’t feel like I was part of society. I beat myself up a lot because I felt like I was behind all my peers. I felt horrible all the time.

“I couldn’t look in the mirror.”

 

 

“I had a very negative attitude about school and it did not help me. … They gave me a lot of encouragement. They would make their rounds and help me. They’d sit down with me and be patient with me as I needed help.”

- Robin Hysong, 18, of Chicora

 

Hysong left Karns City Area High as a freshman in 2025 after being held back three times from advancing in grades due to an inability to concentrate on her studies in person or online.

“I had a very negative attitude about school,” she said, “and it did not help me.”

Like McKibbin, Hysong learned about BC3’s Adult Literacy program from a relative, enrolled and needed assistance with understanding math.

“They gave me a lot of encouragement,” Hysong said. “They would make their rounds and help me. They’d sit down with me and be patient with me as I needed help.”

Caris Doss, a BC3 Adult Literacy program instructor, “was fantastic,” McKibbin said. “She was positive. She did not make you feel bad if you did not understand things. She was very slow and understanding and explained things over and over if you needed it.”

The program attempts to help adults earn their diploma as quickly as possible and with “good scores” on their exams, Doss said. It also assists adults with seeking employment and addressing food insecurity, and provides an introduction to BC3’s Keystone Education Yields Success program, Doss said.

The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services funds Keystone Education Yields Success and the state Department of Education, BC3’s Adult Literacy program.

 

“A lot of students come in and feel like they have some kind of label as a dropout. The biggest things we want them to feel when they leave us is encouraged and confident about themselves and their education.”

- Caris Doss, BC3 Adult Literacy instructor

 

Keystone Education Yields Success assists low-income community college students with academic support, career counseling and financial assistance for essentials such as child care, transportation and textbooks to help students secure family-sustaining jobs.

“We try our best to address barriers,” Doss said, which can also include an adult’s self-esteem.

“A lot of students come in and feel like they have some kind of label as a dropout,” Doss said. “The biggest things we want them to feel when they leave us is encouraged and confident about themselves and their education.”

Hysong passed her final official exam in April and McKibbin, in June.

“I am very happy,” Hysong said. “I’m done. That’s finally a chapter of my life that I don’t have to worry about anymore. I couldn’t have done it without their support.”

Neither could she have, McKibbin said.

“I had no motivation to better myself or to do it myself,” she said. “I was afraid and ashamed that I did not know anything.”

An average of 64 students have dropped out of the seven school districts in Butler County in the past five years, according to the U.S. Department of Education.

Leslie Osche, chair of the Butler County commissioners, is scheduled to be the featured speaker at “The Beginning of a New Chapter” and Megan M. Coval, BC3’s president, to deliver the keynote address.

Osche is also member of the Rotary Club of Butler PM that has raised nearly $72,000 – including $20,000 in 2023 and in 2024 – for BC3’s Adult Literacy program during the service organization’s Luncheon for Literacy fundraisers on BC3’s main campus.

The college’s next high school equivalency diploma preparation classes will begin in mid-September.

BC3’s Adult Literacy program also offers courses in computers, English as a second language, financial literacy and essential skills

The BC3 Education Foundation in 2026-2027 will award eight scholarships whose criteria includes students who earned a commonwealth secondary school diploma, according to Bobbi Jo Cornetti, the foundation’s scholarship and development coordinator.

A ninth, the Jennifer R. Pullar Attorney at Law Scholarship established by the BC3 trustee, specifically has a preference for a student who earned a commonwealth secondary school diploma through BC3’s Adult Literacy program, Cornetti said.