The Great Rivers Adult Education Program is the result of two neighboring school districts doing “better together” to benefit the community.
The program serves adults in Hastings Public Schools and South Washington County Schools and surrounding communities, helping adults who need anything from completing their high school diploma or earning a General Equivalency Degree to gaining skills for employment and training.
A variety of programs and classes are offered Monday-Thursday mornings. Those in the program must be 17 years or older, not enrolled in secondary school and either can’t speak, read or write English, don’t have a high school diploma or lack sufficient mastery of basic educational skills.
Kari Gorr, Director of Hastings Community Education, and Susie Evans, Great Rivers Adult Education Consortium Manager, spoke about the program to members of the Hastings Rotary Club on Thursday.
Gorr told the group that a few years back, the two school districts decided to combine programs.
“We decided that we could do better together, so we joined forces and we created our consortium,” Gorr said. “Our goal is to create a welcoming and supportive place for people to learn and make connections. Our school districts aren’t just K-12. We have the preschool component in it, and then we have our adult education program too, which we’ve had some people that are well into their years in our program.”
Evans added, “We have an 81-year-old, she’s finishing her GED right now, so talk about resilience.”
She told about two people in the program who have been hired at Rooster’s in Hastings. Their background was in finance before they relocated to America and Minnesota.
“They feel very welcomed and safe there, so I’m very excited when I hear these good things about our business partners,” said Evans.
Gorr said so far, the program has served 1,277 adults, with 45 program graduates this year. Those in the program can take employment and college prep English language classes, English in the workplace classes, basic computer skills and Microsoft Office courses. English as a Second Language classes are offered four mornings and two nights a week.
Evans said the program is helping students get where they need to be.
“One of the things we just celebrated was one of our big graduations. There’s a little misconception about why we’re letting high school kids get their GED. Well, remember that thing called COVID? That hurt a lot of our young people with their mental health and social, emotional health. Pathways to alternative education is what we offer,” said Evans. “The GED is not like it used to be. People have to know algebra to get their GED. People come in, and they do a lot of studying and prep.
She noted that at SoWashCo schools, students that are 15 or 20 credits deficient is “99 percent mental health related.”
“This is just a different avenue. Not students with the GED, they can go ahead and enroll in any of our colleges. They could join the armed forces. There used to be a stigma for a GED. Now it’s just an opportunity to move to the next spot,” said Evans. “We’re really proud of the work that we do. It’s not easy.”
She said they’ve had adults from 57 countries speaking 62 languages.
She said community partnerships are key and pay dividends to the students and community organizations.
“We really love our community partnerships. The Lions Club welcomed our students to come and participate. Now our students are adults. They want to be part of our community. They want to be at our events, and they want to be welcomed,” she said. “What’s interesting is the culture change. You come from Nigeria and now you live here. Things just don’t make sense until they do, so finding people who are welcoming our families and our neighbors to connect is the name of the game.”
The students have worked at Hastings Family Service and hiked with the Dakota county Parks Department.
The consortium is also active in helping Dakota County Jail inmates with educational programing and GED testing.
“We’re offering them an opportunity to engage differently while in jail. They’re going to be released into our communities, so whatever we can do to support them while they’re in jail, that’s what we do,” she said. “I’ve had 20 inmates in the room with me. Some are going to prison for the rest of their lives. Some of them are going to be released. Some of them have been there for the first time, and they’re 50 years old. Some of them are 17. There are drugs, mental health problems and bad decisions all around them, but it’s really interesting to see people the first time and then once they’re clean, their brains start working again. It’s pretty magical to see those say, ‘I’m the first person in my family that ever got a high school diploma, and they’re my age.”
Learn more about the Great Rivers Adult Education Program at https://hastingscommunityed.com/adults/adult-basic-education/