Vocational classes offer a hand up and a way out

When Tom first enrolled in Mary Means' adult education welding class, he had no skills and few prospects. He wore an ankle bracelet to class as part of his jail sentence. Today Tom (not his real name) is a certified welder making more than $100,000 a year.

"Once they get their welding certification and a license, there's no stopping them," says Means, a member of the Associated Pomona Teachers. "It definitely gets them to a living wage. They can go to any state or city and find employment as a welder."

Adult education vocational classes offer students a variety of employment options, ranging from welder or computer technician to medical assistant or merchant marine. Classes offer a way out of poverty, welfare and even homelessness. And for those already employed, it can open the door to advancement in their career.

Approximately 161,000 adult education students took vocational courses in 2001-02, the most recent statistics available.

Even if their English isn't perfect, immigrants can find decent paying jobs, says Ben Yelin, a grocery and retail instructor at El Monte-Rosemead Adult School in the San Gabriel Valley. "I teach low-level English speakers, new immigrants and people who haven't finished high school. Many of them come here on their own; others are in the welfare-to-work program or straight out of the unemployment office."

A member of the El Monte Unified High School District Education Association, Yelin teaches customer service, touch checking with a three-finger keypad, and how to operate various cash registers, make change, figure out tax receipts, cash checks and sell lottery tickets. His classroom is a simulated supermarket complete with merchandise and eight check stands. Curriculum also covers how to dress and speak during a job interview.

"They can get jobs in retail and union markets," says Yelin. "This past week Subway hired four of my people. I also placed some with Costco. They can make up to $18 an hour and $700 a week as a cashier."

Bill Econome's class in software applications prepares students for office jobs. They learn at their own pace, reading from manuals. Programs include Microsoft Word, Excel, Access and PowerPoint. Some of his students are re-training after being laid off. Others are trying to start anew after leaving prison, being in recovery from drugs and alcohol addiction, or receiving public assistance. Some are single mothers or displaced homemakers.

"I try to be lighthearted and positive. I let them know anybody can do it," says Econome, a Grant District Education Association member who teaches at the Las Palmas Skills Center in Sacramento. "If they are nervous about using a computer, I'll have them play games to get them comfortable with using a mouse and a keyboard. I tell them it's just like learning to ride a bike or cook - they just need practice."

"I knew nothing about computers when I started here," says student Valerie Edmonson, 48. "But now I have confidence. I think that I would like to look for a challenging job with computers."

Monica Quinones, who didn't speak a word of English until she entered an ESL program a year ago, is making tremendous strides in computer literacy. If she has trouble understanding a word in her English computer manual, she goes to a website like www.dictionary.com to look it up.

"I learn little by little," she says proudly.

When adult education classes partner with other entities, students are able to gain hands-on experience that may be impossible to get elsewhere. The Grant Adult Education Maritime Program qualifies students to work as merchant marines and offers them the opportunity for hands-on training at the California Maritime Academy in Vallejo.

"After this class, they will be qualified to work on all kinds of different ships and boats, going out to sea for six months at a time," says Dee Orsburn, the vocational education department chairman who oversees the program. "They can work on military ships, hospital ships, oil tankers, tug boats or cruise ships. They could even work on oil rigs out at sea."

One of the course requirements is that students go to sea on 30- to 60-day internships, says Orsburn, a GDEA member. "After that, they are classified as Able Seamen."

Some of the students at a recent lifeboat training exercise at the California Maritime Academy are just out of high school. "Tomorrow I'm flying out on a government ship that studies whales and dolphins," says Scott Jones, 17.

Some like Katherine De Moure-Aldrich are in their 40s or 50s and seeking a career change. "I want to work on a ship that's as global as possible," says the former designer of fire sprinkler systems. "I would like to work on a fast combat supply vessel, providing fuel and supplies to the military. I love being at sea."

Through a partnership with Northern California Construction Training Inc., adult education students in the Grant school district are learning construction by building houses from the ground up. "NCCT secured a couple of parcels of land in our community, and we are building two single-family homes," says Andy Jones, a GDEA member who oversees the construction project as the Las Palmas site coordinator.

NCCT provides licensed plumbers and carpenters to work with students, while Las Palmas staff members provide classroom instruction for students who are simultaneously working on their GED or high school diploma. The union requires their workers to have a high school diploma.

Students who have trouble understanding math and science find that practical application in the field makes theory come to life. "They catch on and see the relevance," explains Jones. "They have to measure accurately, read a blueprint and use algebraic formulas and ratios on the construction site."

They also learn responsibility. "In the real world, you have a deadline, and we have a deadline to get these houses up. We rotate crews to the site, and they can't go out to the site unless they have adequately completed their classwork first."

Larry Edwards will soon be certified as an apprentice carpenter. "I can actually say, when I get old, that I helped to build a house," says Edwards, taking visitors on a tour. "This is a great program. It gives us a fighting chance."

Some adult education students need a fighting chance because they have had to overcome failure and need some encouragement, says Alice Yoshioka, an instructor in the Business Careers Department at Hacienda La Puente Adult Education.

"They have a fear of going back to school. They may be feeling 'dumb' and think they can't handle it. When they get in here and get a little bit of knowledge, they say, 'I can do this.' They are amazed. They can take it and run."

"If you treat them like they are worth something, they will feel like they really are," she adds. "I had one gentleman who worked at the same company for 30 years and lost his job. For the first six months, he sat at home, not knowing what to do. He applied at places and was told he was overqualified.

"After three weeks in class, he told me, 'This class has done wonders for me. Not only am I learning about computers, but I'm getting my self-respect back.'"