A new round of classes at the Adult Education Center at Southern Hills CTC are starting on June 1.
“The past couple of months have been crazy like they have for everybody,” said Director Vicky Carrington.
“Our hope is to start slowly and make sure that everyone is following the guidelines. If we are successful, we can add more classes as we go.”
Carrington said that there was some disruption as new social distancing guidelines and other requirements were put in place in late March.
“Right now, we are finishing a medical assistant class that was in the middle of things when the new guidelines came down,” Carrington said.
“They were able to do a lot of things virtually through Zoom. When they got to the clinical part, they were brought in here, screened for temperature and other symptoms and then allowed to complete their work.”
A welding class with 14 people in it also required some adjustments.
“We split the class and had some of the students come in the morning and some in the evening. That way, we were able to stay under ten students. That class finished up last week,” Carrington said.
One of the first classes on the list in June is for a profession that has been in the spotlight recently.
“We want to start a nurse’s aide class because that is something that’s desperately needed right now. We are hoping to get eight students and keep it under ten people,” Carrington said.
She also talked about the new health safety procedures in place at SHCTC.
“Everyone has to wear a mask and we are wiping down everything in between classes. We are also keeping them in the classroom areas and not letting them congregate,” Carrington said.
A new welding class is also on the schedule for early June.
“Welding is a little easier because the students are in individual booths and have the required separation,” Carrington said.
A CDL class with a limit of eight people is also set to begin June 1. Carrington said that this class will present a unique opportunity to those looking to change careers.
“We have been awarded a grant for the CDL program and we have some scholarships available. If students meet the requirements for the scholarship, they can take the class and only pay $250 out of pocket,” Carrington said.
“That is a five week class. We are hoping that after that time, we will be able to increase the class size a little bit more.”
Looking to the future, Carrington said that she expects SHCTC to be busier as things return to normal after the economic shakeup.
“I do feel like we get a surge of people wanting to come in and change careers once things open back up. I also anticipate offering different classes that we haven’t thought of yet that we will need to train people for,” she said.
One example that Carrington mentioned would be to teach a class on monitoring health in the workplace if any of the current guidelines continue to remain in place.
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