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Lifestyle
Perryan Jim Gray Jr. earns GED diploma after years of determination
Childhood swimming
accident doesn’t stop
effort to get GED
By CHARLOTTE PERKINS
Thwb-Jooiwal Stait
Life hasn't been easy
for Jim Gray Jr., but
he’s learned some
:ssons along the way.
When he was three years old
he suffered brain damage after
falling into a swimming pool and
nearly drowning. He had been a
bright and lively toddler, but after
the accident, his doctors didn’t
offer much hope.
“All he did was scream." said
his mother. Mary Leatherwood.
“They told me he would never
walk or talk again, and that I
should put him in an institution,
but I wouldn't do that."
It was not until he was eight
years old that any real improve
ment showed up.
Then, his mother said, he was
healed at a church service and the
light came back into his eyes. He
was able to go to school, attend
ing special classes. He learned to
read, and became very articulate.
Despite all his progress. Gray
never made it through high
school. After being main
streamed into a public high
school, he encountered unkind
ness from his teen-age class
mates.
“I was taken advantage of,
Potpourri
With Joan
Dorsett
PHS Class of
’67 to meet
A committee meeting to plan
the Perry High School Class of
1967 Reunion will be held at
Shoney’s Restaurant June 7, at
2:30 p.m. Classmates may call
Floyd Tabor at 987-2984 for
information about helping with
this reunion to be held the week
end of Aug, 1.
•••
Enjoying the atmosphere of
casinos and shows last week in
Biloxi were Hugh and Mary Ann
Hill, Mike and Jennifer Ratliff
and their friends Ken and Peggy
Bladen of Columbus. The high
light of their vacation was to be
entertained by singer Tom Jones.
•••
Twenty-six members of the
Sorelle Club attended their annu
al spring luncheon at New Perry
Hotel May 20.
Officers for the new year
1998-99 were installed by presi
dent, Jean Gilbert. They are: pres
ident, Marian Whitehurst; vice
president, Mary Ferguson; secre
tary, Agnes Hardy; treasurer, Lois
Athon, and parliamentarian, Ann
Houser.
Gilbert thanked members for
their cooperation during her year
as president. Committee reports
were given and the meeting was
adjourned, to resume meeting in
September.
•••
Congratulations to 15-year-old
Bill Sandefur, son of Ed and
Clara Sandefur, upon winning the
youth class, ages 12-15, in the
Southeastern Traditional Archery
Championship (long bows and
recurves only) held in Elberton
May 15-17. '
Competing with archers from
nine states Bill, whose main
sports for Perry High are soccer
and cross country running, shot a
score of 279 out of a possible 300
to win, which beat his dad’s
score.
They are members of
Traditional Bowhunlers of
Georgia where Ed is project coor
dinator and involved with work
ing with various charities. They
would like to issue an invitation
to any and all those interested in
learning more about or becoming
a member of the family-oriented
organization and can be reached
at 987-9250.
••ft
Kopie and Jim O’Neai and
Claire Beckham spent a couple of
days last week at the O’Neal’s St.
(See POTPOURRI, Page 3B)
* 4 J|||
“ v . ( ||w •'* Ml l|| •: [J; . ,
teased and picked on," he said "A
lot of people couldn’t understand
me. I couldn’t take it. 1 dropped
out in 10th grade."
School was over, but church
was still an important part of
Gray’s life and it was in church,
while he and his family were liv
ing in Columbus, that he devel
oped a great love of music.
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PERRYAN JIM GRAY JR. RECENTLY COMPLETED HIS GED PROGRAM
He visits with his mother, Mary Leatherwood
"One day I saw a group of
young people standing around the
piano singing," he remembers,
“and I thought that would be a
good thing to do, so I asked if I
could be in the choir.”
The choir director told him
there were no openings and if
there was one he would let him
know.
Page 1B
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“I thought that was kind of
funny.” Gray remembers with a
wry smile, “but I went along with
it and waited. Then there was
going to be a Christmas Cantata,
and 1 learned that there were
openings, so 1 tried out. but he
told me 1 was tone deaf
The choir director then told
Gray that if he would give him
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voice lessons free if Gray would
help out by running the tape
recorder. Even though the young
man did his part of the bargain,
somehow the lessons never mate
rialized.
Still determined. Gray talked
with his mother, and they
arranged for him to have private
voice lessons from an encourag
ing teacher.
Today, he sings and he is learn
ing to use a keyboard as well.
"If we set our minds on some
thing. we can accomplish it," he
said. “If you want something bad
enough, and you're persistent,
you’ll get it.”
The real lest of his persistence
was yet to come, though.
During 1993. after he and his
mother had moved to Perry, Gray
started making plans to cam his
GED
At that point, his mother had a
severe stroke. Neither she nor
Gray let that become an obstacle
to his goal. He enrolled in GED
classes and began walking to the
classes four days a week, prepar
ing for the test which would enti
tle him a high school diploma.
Reading had never been a
problem for Gray, but math
proved to be a serious problem.
“1 had a great deal of trouble
with math," he said, "it was a
block.”
The first time he took the GED
lest, he failed the math section .
but he kept on working at it.
Then he took the test again.
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and failed it again.
Still, he kept walking to class
es at the Perry Housing Authority
learning center four days a week,
and look the math section of the
test again.
He failed it a third time , but he
kept on trying.
He failed it a fourth time.
“It nearly broke my confi
dence," he said, "but my teachers
helped me build up my confi
dence ' -’ain.”
Fin y, after five years of
classes and four failed attempts,
he took the test one more time
and passed it!
His mother's eyes fill with
tears as she explains about open
ing the letter and getting into the
car to go get him and tell him
about it.
On the evening of May 28,
proudly wearing a cap and gown,
Jim Gray, Jr. received his high
school diploma in GED gradua
tion ceremonies hosted by Middle
Georgia Technical Institute.
What’s next for this deter
mined man 9
He’d like to “kick back and
relax” for the summer, and then
get to back to school again.
His dream is to further his edu
cation at a Bible College, become
a music therapist and maybe even
get his Ph.D.
That’s a lot to accomplish, but
as Gray puts it, "When a man sets
his mind to doing something, he
can do it."
SAVE