Abilene ISD -

Abilene ISD’s West Central Texas Adult Education program and Texas State Technical College are teaming up this semester to make it easier for those in Abilene and the Big Country to obtain certifications that will provide them greater flexibility in the workforce.

While some certification courses can take an entire semester, the on-ramp classes at Adult Education are designed to be efficient and effective. The classes focus on soft skills such as resume building, completing job applications, understanding pay stubs, and interviewing techniques. After completing the three-day prep course at Adult Education, students move on to certification training at TSTC, which lasts about three weeks. The first class, Electrical Systems, began earlier this month, with three more courses planned this spring.

The Texas Workforce Commission, which oversees adult education across the state, also supports these programs as part of its goal to strengthen the workforce and help local adult students earn a GED. Adult Education Program Director Jeff Howle, who collaborated with TSTC’s Executive Director of Workforce Training Cindy Brunett to launch the program, believes these short-term certifications will significantly benefit the local workforce.

“These classes offer students the chance to get something done within a relatively short time, and they fit better with our population,” Howle said. “Most people want to get something quickly and return to the workforce.”

In addition to its partnership with TSTC, Abilene ISD’s Adult Education program also has a well-established partnership with the Patty Hanks School of Nursing to help students become Certified Nurse Aides (CNA), a program that Howle would like to see these new classes follow.

“We’ve got students going into the CNA program at a steady pace,” he said. “We’re slowly building this program, but once the word gets out that we’re providing the certifications free with the on-ramp course, I think they’ll take off.”

These new, shorter-term certificate partnership programs have the potential to be a vital learning model for the growing workforce in Abilene and the surrounding area.

“What I’d like to have happen over the long haul is that we provide short-term training for anybody in the general public that will help them find a better job,” Howle said. “The Texas Workforce Commission wants that, too. A program like that would tremendously impact the workforce, not just in Abilene, but within the Abilene and Central Texas region.”

For more information, contact Abilene ISD’s Adult Education program at 325-671-4419.