Ventura area adult schools collaborate to provide wide-ranging education and career preparation opportunities to the region
Photo by Michele Nicole Gunter
Ventura area adult schools collaborate to provide wide-ranging education and career preparation opportunities to the region
The adult schools that make up the Ventura County Adult Education Consortium have been working together to bring educational opportunities to their communities and the entire region for more than a decade.
The Ventura consortium was one of several that came together across the state of California in 2014, following the passage of Assembly Bill 104, which established the California Adult Education Program. The program provides funding to adult education through the consortia model, bringing together adult schools and K-12 districts into regional collaborative partnerships.
“An amazing thing to watch is how determined people are to learn the language. It’s very rewarding from the standpoint that you’re helping people.”
Mike Sanders, Conejo Valley Adult School Principal and Ventura County Adult Education Consortium Chairperson
“There were four of the adult schools in the Ventura area at that time, Simi Institute for Careers & Education, Conejo Valley Adult School, Oxnard Adult School and Ventura Adult & Continuing Education,” says Mike Sanders, the principal of Conejo Valley Adult School and chairperson of the consortium. “We were actually able at that time to establish and reestablish developed schools in Ojai, Santa Paula and Moorpark.”
The consortium’s member schools provide adult learners with opportunities throughout the county, from urban and affluent communities to rural and low-income areas. Sanders notes that one of the main benefits of the consortium has been the ability to open schools in the areas who need the most support.
“It’s been amazing the way it’s evolved, particularly to offer ESL services to the Santa Paulas and the Fillmores that did not have English as a second language for adults in those areas,” Sanders says.
ESL services are a major part of the consortium: Sanders estimates students studying the language account for more than 50% of each member school’s total enrollment.
“You start talking about Oxnard, Santa Paula and Fillmore and we’re very agricultural there and that draws more English language learners,” Sanders says. “An amazing thing to watch is how determined people are to learn the language. It’s very rewarding from the standpoint that you’re helping people.”
While learning English, students often work on citizenship preparation and high school completion courses at the various adult schools. He notes that many of these same students work full time as well.
In addition to ESL, Career technical education (CTE) courses are another important component of the consortium’s offerings. Greg Hill Jr., who works with the consortium as lead facilitator, says that he’s heard about the positive impact these courses have from community partners and employers.
“What I’ve heard pretty consistently from everybody is just how valuable the work has been for the community and those employers,” Hill says, “let alone the community impact it has and the impact it has on the individuals themselves in terms of their ability to become self-sustaining.”
The schools in the Ventura consortium offer a variety of career pathways, ranging from healthcare, construction and media. As an example of this diversity and reach, Sanders notes the VCAEC provides culinary training to prisoners in the county’s jails.
“Everyone ends up with their own niche of things and that’s a huge part of what we do,” Sanders says. “We’ve always had strong medical, professional training, phlebotomy, EMT, mental health and other workforce prep programs.”
Sanders has been with the consortium since its start and has been able to see first hand how important it is to the community. Throughout it all, he says the consortium’s key to success has been remaining consistent in its goals and mission.
“The vision from the beginning was student-based and we understood that our purpose was to serve students,” Sanders says. “Because we’ve had that focus from the very beginning when we created our bylaws and vision, it’s helped us maintain our consistency.”
To learn more about the Ventura County Adult Education Consortium, visit vcaec.org.
Written by Jacob Peterson
| Regions | Classes & Topics |
|---|---|
| South Coast California | English as a Second Language – Variety of Classes |
