Career technical education programs help adults build bright futures
When the walls are closing in, the best answer is usually a door. A door opened for Joseph Radu when he met Olga Simichenko, his case manager in the Sacramento Works Training Center’s Out of School Youth program.
Sacramento Employment and Training Agency (SETA)/Sacramento Works is collaborating with CAERC members to provide expanded career technical education opportunities for adult learners. For many like Radu, such programs offer a unique and desperately needed lifeline to a better future. Radu was looking for a way to improve his career outlook when he connected with the Sacramento Works Training Center located on the campus of Sacramento City Unified School District’s Charles A. Jones Career and Education Center.
Radu was out of high school and trying to help his mother, who was already working two jobs, keep up with the expenses of a large household. But Radu didn’t know how to get from an inadequate fast-food job to a career. Frustration and fear mounted.
“It seemed like doors kept closing every day, right in front of my eyes,” Radu says.
Radu had decided that a normal path through four years of college was not going to work, particularly since he was not eligible for financial aid. He needed a fast track, and he found one.
“This really saved my career.”
Joseph Radu, Adult Education Student
When he came to Simichenko at the Out of School program, Radu was 21. What Simichenko saw was someone built for success but needing direction.
“He was exceptional,” Simichenko says. “Never late, always dressed neatly. He would listen and follow advice.”
The two quickly formed a connection. Simichenko’s story — immigrating from Russia years ago, dealing with language and other barriers — reminded Radu of his parents’ move from Romania.
Radu was interested in a training program that would produce relatively quick results. His inclination was toward the health field, and he settled on the pharmacy program.
He made his mark quickly, working his way through six months of classes and nine weeks of field work and training, known as an externship. His preference was to find a position in a hospital pharmacy, but he wasn’t sure he would qualify.
“I didn’t see myself as being a top student,” Radu says.
He was wrong, and his professor, Lana Fong, quickly let him know. With Fong’s encouragement, Radu applied for and landed a position at the UC Davis Medical Center pharmacy. Six months later, Radu, newly married, has a job that provides for his family and finds him “happy to get up every morning to go to work.”
He remains grateful for the opportunities he was given.
“This really saved my career,” he says. “Some people don’t have direction. Other people do have direction, but they still need help to get there.”
For more information, visit www.capitaladulted.org.
Written by Matt Jocks
| Regions | Classes |
|---|---|
| Northern California | Careers in Health Care |
