If you’re living in and around Paintearth County, the Town of Coronation or the Town of Castor and wanted to expand your learning horizons there’s no excuse not to phone Paintearth Adult Learning.
The adult learning specialists have so wide a reach and varied a menu that Program Manager Cindy Heidecker had trouble narrowing their most popular offering down to one program.
“That is a tough one,” said Heidecker by phone Nov. 22.
For families and child caregivers adult learning offers the popular Magic Carpet Ride, a program for kids aged 0 to 6 years, plus their adults, that offers an opportunity to enjoy for one hour once a week a variety of songs, activities and snacks.
Heidecker noted for individuals active at work adult learning offers some pretty important training, including first aid and H2S courses. General Equivalency Diploma (GED) is also popular as some employers are requiring a high school diploma.Switching over to more lifelong learners Heidecker stated both digital literacy and reading/writing courses are popular.
Diving a bit deeper into that last one, Heidecker stated that many people may see increased digital literacy or improved reading/writing as skills that newcomers to Canada would be most interested in, but she said a well-kept secret is that Paintearth Adult Learning offers a focus on those skills for Canadian-born residents who want to improve their literacy skills.
She said there are people born and raised in Canada who don’t have the literary skills they need, and they simply learn to cope as best as they can or avoid doing things they don’t know how to do.
She cited the example of an adult learning student a few years ago who was in her mid-60s and wanted to increase her literacy with the help of the organization. This lady did so and Heidecker noted it was wonderful to watch someone learning new skills.
Paintearth Adult Learning can be quite flexible too she noted. Heidecker said different courses are offered at different times, including in the evening and on weekends to accommodate those who can’t attend during work days. Additionally, some programs such as reading/writing feature volunteer tutors from the community and the program manager says she lets the tutor and student set their own schedule.
The one thing Heidecker stated she’s noticed over her 12 years at Paintearth Adult Learning is that the organization doesn’t really have a target audience: it seems almost anybody could be interested in or benefit from more learning. Ranging from classroom courses to one on one learning the only real limit Paintearth Adult Learning abides by is that their grant funding requires adults to be the beneficiaries, so even courses that involve youth in some way are aimed at the adults in their lives.
An interesting feature of adult learning that’s been gaining steam in recent years is online post-secondary learning. Heidecker stated students can learn from colleges in other communities without leaving their own computer chair at home. She added about eight years ago Olds College and Red Deer Polytechnic got together to develop distance learning opportunities suitable for central Alberta.
Not only can local residents take these post-secondary courses at home, they can also take advantage of the Paintearth Adult Learning facility and use computers there. Even further, Heidecker stated the organization also offers a computer lending program.
Still hesitating because your computer skills aren’t up to snuff? Paintearth Adult Learning also offers computer training courses.
Recently Paintearth Adult Learning did some learning themselves: a shuffle of provincial government ministries revealed adult learning moved from Advanced Education to Jobs and Skilled Professions.
The program manager added that she’s found over the years that once people become involved in adult education, one acquired skill seems to lead to others and behind all of that is an increase in self-confidence and a feeling of well-being.
A rewarding part of working in adult learning is that Paintearth Adult Learning offers stops along the learning path, but the community provides the destination. “We have a lot of flexibility there,” she added.
Stu Salkeld
Local Journalism Initiative reporter
ECA Review
