(November 9, 2007) At the fall conference of the North Carolina Community College Association of Educators of Adults, Stanly Community College’s Adult Literacy Program won the 2007 Innovation Award for its Allied Health Careers Camp.
The Innovation Award is the association’s way of recognizing and rewarding creativity in course programming, management practice, communication, marketing, or customer service in continuing education programs. Entries are judged on how unique the program idea is, what was the identified need for the project, who were the targeted participants, how many people could be impacted, what is the long-term staying power and implications of the project, and can the project be replicated at other community colleges.
Stanly Community College’s entry, the Adult Literacy Allied Health Careers Camp, was developed as a direct result of the college’s participation with the Employment Security Commission JobLink Career Center, the Centralina Workforce Development Board, Stanly Regional Medical Center, and the Allied Health programs of Stanly Community College.
At a JobLink Management Team meeting David Hollars provided information on possible grants for such a camp to be provided by Charlotte Area AHEC. Associate Dean Kathy Gardner contacted the agency to ask if adult literacy programs could be included in the grant application process since most of the information pointed to public schools. AHEC had never worked with literacy programs in the past but was agreeable to the college applying for funding.
The college’s grant application was funded and the camp was offered to Adult High School and GED students during the month of June. Students spent a week visiting allied health programs that the college offers, gaining hands-on experience with some of the equipment used in the career fields, and met with program instructors for question-and-answer sessions to learn more about their particular areas. In addition to the college tours, students participated in a tour of Stanly Manor (a local nursing home), Stanly Regional Medical Center, and the Stanly County Health Department. During the tours of these facilities, students were able to observe various health care careers in action. Classroom activities rounded out the week as students put some of the skills they had observed into action.
A total of 17 students ages 17 to 50 participated in the camp. Several had never had the opportunity for this type of learning experience and indicated that they will choose a health career as a result of lessons and experiences during the camp.
For many adult literacy students a college degree and subsequent employment is a far away dream. It is the firm belief that by providing the camp participants with practical, in depth information these students are well on their way to making the dream of a health care career a reality.
Stanly Community College is deeply appreciative to the Centralina Workforce Development Board for their partnership with this award-winning program.
If you would like more information about the services the Adult Literacy Division at Stanly Community College offers, please call (704) 991-0278 or email at kgardner5070@stanly.edu.