From the field to the college campus, Alicia Paniagua has learned the importance of community education
As a child, Alicia Paniagua remembers picking strawberries as a kid with her mother and father in the fields just on the other side of U.S. 101 from Allan Hancock College (AHC).
“I always thought, I’m going to work there one day and serve my community,” the Santa Maria native says.
School did not come easy to the young Paniagua. But she developed an appreciation for learning when she accompanied her mother to English classes at Allan Hancock.
As early as the fourth grade, Paniagua knew she wanted to be a teacher.
Now, years later, she has fulfilled that dream and more. Recently, she was selected as the Dean of Community Education for AHC’s Adult Education Program in northern Santa Barbara County.
“Community education encompasses the entire community. It’s an opportunity to take a step in your personal journey.”
Alicia Paniagua, Dean of Community Education, Allan Hancock College’s Adult Education Program
The program has expanded both the idea and the reach of what is commonly known as adult education, she says.
“Community education encompasses the entire community,” Paniagua says. “It’s an opportunity to take a step in your personal journey. We embrace and welcome all students, including the young, to achieve their goals and to be involved in lifelong learning.”
The college’s community education program is meant for everybody, including those who left high school early, as well as folks who want to learn a new language, earn a GED, or acquire a skill or certificate necessary to land a better-paying job.
Paniagua earned her bachelor’s in Spanish instruction at Azusa Pacific University and her master’s in secondary education from Loyola Marymount. She taught middle school in Los Angeles before she took a job at Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo, near Santa Maria, as a continuing education Coordinator and as a GED instructor.. There, her passion for working with diverse populations and with diverse needs grew.
In her first several months at Hancock, Paniagua says she has seen people from the region’s large Mixteco community, whose indigenous dialect is largely unwritten, learn to read and write Spanish, a big step toward learning English and entry into the American economic mainstream. She’s also watched graduates of Hancock’s commercial trucking program find good-paying local jobs. She’s seen students earn GEDs. One transferred to Fresno State and another wrote a book.
The community education program is not confined to the Santa Maria campus,, either. The district also works out of satellite facilities in Lompoc and Santa Ynez, as well as pop-up locations elsewhere in the North County valleys.
“We’re always looking to expand, to meet students where they are,” Paniagua says. “We want to remove barriers, including transportation. Us coming to them, to closer locations, is another way we’re able to help support the community.”
For more information on Allan Hancock College’s Adult Education Program visit https://www.hancockcollege.edu/caep/index.php
Written by Andy Furillo
| Regions | Classes & Topics |
|---|---|
| South Coast California | Variety of Classes |
