ADVANCE meets individuals ‘where they are at’ for a tailored approach to education
The CCC’s Forestry Corps also offers pathways to degree programs and jobs with a tailored approach to education. Photo courtesy of CCC.
In 2018, the California State Legislature passed Assembly Bill 2126. This bill required the California Conservation Corps to create a Forestry Corps program by July 2019. The bill also mandated that Forestry Corpsmembers be provided pathways to degree programs and jobs.
For the South Lake Tahoe branch of the CCC, this was an easier task than it might have been—due to a preexisting relationship with ADVANCE, an adult education consortium in South Lake Tahoe. The CCC had been working with ADVANCE for several years to provide corpsmembers access to high school credentials and post-corps transition. Now, it was simply a matter of formalizing degree pathways.
“What ADVANCE is incredible at is having a tailored approach as part of their ethos. … It’s not an in-the-box answer all the time.”
Gary Whitehouse, Director, Tahoe Center of the CCC
Gary Whitehouse, Director of the Tahoe Center of the CCC, sees the role of ADVANCE as a liaison between the Forestry Corps and Lake Tahoe educators.
“It helps us to have a central point of contact, rather than trying to get into the education system and community college and working with a counselor here, a professor there. ADVANCE can be kind of our single point of contact and navigate any of the questions we may have,” he says.
These questions may include which courses to take, where to sign up, and how to fit courses into a tight schedule. Forestry Corpsmembers’ responsibilities can occupy 40 hours a week. Without the help of ADVANCE, it would be difficult—if not impossible—to design a curriculum that works for them.
It also helps that ADVANCE shares key operational principles with the CCC. The CCC, says Whitehouse, is all about “meeting corpsmembers where they’re at.” Similarly, ADVANCE understands that any modern educational system must be flexible. One person might be 18 years old and looking to complete a high school degree. Another might be 25, with a family, and fresh out of the military.
“What ADVANCE is incredible at is having a tailored approach as part of their ethos,” Whitehouse says. “That navigation to the higher wage, the new job, the education—they’ll meet you and develop an individual plan for that. It’s not an in-the-box answer all the time.”
For more information, visit www.advance-learnearngrow.org/.
Written by Raul Clement.
| Regions | Classes |
|---|---|
| Northern California | Careers in Manufacturing-Construction |
