HRDC adult ed has new hours, new focus

The head of employment and training at District 4 Human Resources Development Council said that, in the midst of local schools rolling out a new year, HRDC is making some changes in how its education is presented as well.

Director Andi Daniel said that starting next week, the hours that the Adult Basic Literacy Education — ABLE — classrooms will be open are expanded.

Now, the classrooms are open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, Tuesday and Thursday and 8 a.m. to noon Friday, with testing done Wednesday afternoons.

Starting after Labor Day, the classroom will be open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, 5-7:30 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.

Daniel said the increased hours include a shift of focus intended to emphasize that the ABLE program is not just to help people prepare to take their high school equivalency test, the GED program until this year and now the HiSET test. The program helps people increase their skills in language, reading, writing and math, helping them get and keep jobs and improve their lives in general, she said.

While the program still will help people prepare for the tests, it also helps with training in general including some career counseling and offering a computer system that will be open to the public.

That will include links to several training websites, Daniel said.

With the expanded hours — and budget cuts the program has endured — the center also is looking for volunteers to help teach in the classroom, she said.

“Specifically math and writing, but anything people can help with,” she said.

The training is completely personalized and individualized, with the students working one-on-one with instructors.

The initial entry of people into the ABLE program includes testing and determining in what areas they need help and designing a program for each student.

She said the state has switched over from the GED high school equivalency test to Educational Testing Service’s HiSET test, but people who had started in the GED have until the end of December this year to finish the testing. The combined scores from the GED and HiSET will be used for their rating.

After December, the people who started in the GED will have to start over.

For more information, people can visit the HRDC website at http://www.hrdc4.org and click on the “Employment and Training” link and the “Programs and Services page” link on that page.