By LACIE PIERSON
The Herald-Dispatch
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Open enrollment to a path that can lead to higher education and ultimately a career is available at a new adult education center in Huntington.
The Center for Community Learning and Advancement opened this week at 901 5th Ave., where adults can participate in everything from college preparation courses and taking the Test Assessing Secondary Completion (TASC), which earns them their high school equivalence, to financial literacy and parenting courses, said Ginny Sellerds, coordinator for the center.
The center will be staffed by full-time instructors who will function as mentors and case workers for each student, Sellerds said.
The center is owned and operated by Catholic Charities West Virginia, and all of the classes are free.
In addition to courses that will help students brush up on skills to pass higher education entrance exams or gain work skill certificates, the center will bring in guest speakers and educational representatives to talk with students about preparing for the next step in their futures.
By 2020, 65 percent of all of the jobs in the United States will require post-secondary education or some other training beyond high school, according to the report “Recovery: Job Growth and Education Requirements Through 2020” from the Georgetown Public Policy Institute at Georgetown University.
“There can be a lack of opportunities, especially if you don’t have the basic qualifying credentials,” Sellerds said. “We also knew the education system doesn’t work for all people in the same way, for whatever reason. They could’ve had to leave school, and if they don’t have an opportunity that is accessible and affordable to get credentials, everything gets more difficult.”
Sellerds said each class offered at the center will have between eight and 10 people.
Want to know more?
For more information about the center or to enroll, call Sellerds at 304-650-4641.
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