PASCO COUNTY, Fla. — Marie Chancey said when she’s teaching people trying get their GED, she starts from scratch.
“My English program is what’s a noun? What’s a verb? What’s a pronoun? That kind of thing,” Marie said.
Watch full report from Erik Waxler
Pasco Chancey, yes, Pasco is his name, handles the math.
“I have to start with the number system and work my way up,” he said.
The two retired teachers are a volunteer tag team.
“Between the two of us we cover everything,” Marie said.
And their prize pupil at Shady Hills Mission Chapel is Lynn Nagel.
“In 2020 I didn’t know how to read or write. So from then to now I evolved a lot. That’s one of our words in my school. Evolved,” said Nagel.
After years of addiction, jail time, and living on the streets, Lynn is almost 10 months sober.
“Now that my head is clear, I want to do an education because the last grade I remember was 8th grade. And I don’t remember any school from there,” Nagel said.
Lynn says she taught herself to read when she was in jail.
“We just can’t believe what she’s been doing. When she first came to us she couldn’t do anything,” Marie said.
“I have never seen anyone grap and hold on like this woman is doing,” Pasco said.
Lynn is getting close on passing the math section, but still has some work to do on the English side.
“I got one answer right on one of the things we were doing and I was so excited that I bit my lip. I was bleeding. I was like I got that right. I was so excited you know,” said Nagel.
The Chancey’s are hoping to expand their GED classes to include people in jail.
“I just love doing it. I love teaching. I always have. And when we retired we decided we didn’t want to just sit around and do nothing,” Marie said.
And apparently the couple that teaches together, stays together…for a very long time.
“This month will be number 60. 60 years,” Pasco said.
