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ENLARGE
Donna Caldwell of Roseburg works on an assignment recently during a GED preparation class at the Woolley Center.
Shortly before she moved to Douglas County 19 years ago, Jeri Frank read an article dubbing the Umpqua Basin “ground zero” for the spotted owl controversy.
When she accepted a post teaching adult education for Umpqua Community College, she witnessed the fallout of the controversy that disrupted the timber industry.
“I started in 1991 and classes were huge then – our classes are bigger when the unemployment is up,” she said last week from her office at the Workforce Training Center.
With unemployment up again, Frank and her colleagues in UCC's Adult Basic Skills Development program are aiding those edged out of the shrinking job market.
Help can mean getting students up to speed to earn GEDs or adult high school diplomas. Or it may be helping them pass the time until they get called back to work after temporary layoffs.
Ali Mageehon, the development program director, reported higher numbers of people studying for their GEDs, working on adult high school diplomas and working in English as a second language classes.
“We're pretty sure it has to do with the economy,” Mageehon said, adding that not only are there more students older than 25, but the average student age has increased as well.
Mageehon said the program has added sites around the county this school year to accommodate those living farther from Roseburg, in places such as Glide, Drain, Myrtle Creek, Glendale, Riddle and Canyonville. The Roseburg sites have been adding evening classes to absorb the influx, too.
“The Wednesday night class is like standing-room only,” she said of one class at the Woolley Center.
Al Springer, outreach coordinator for the program, said he's trying to cap classes at sites such as the Workforce Training Center. He said he's seeking to keep classes to no more than 25 students to maintain a quality learning environment.
Springer said attendance is more regular at the Roseburg sites than at the outreach sites. He said the latter sites have an open-enrollment policy due to the low numbers and greater number of people on temporary layoffs.
“My philosophy is we'll be here when they're ready,” Springer said. “Here, if life happens, life happens — if they have to go away and take care of stuff, that's OK.”
Kory Dunn, 26, is a student at Umpqua Community College and is seeking a transfer degree in chemistry, Spanish and geology.
Just last summer, Dunn received his high school diploma. The young man dropped out of high school in 2000.
“I just wanted to hang out with my friends and wanted to do that kind of thing,” he said in an interview earlier this year. “I worked for a while and wasn't getting anywhere, then I moved back in with my mom.”
After a while, his mom gave him an ultimatum: either get a GED or a diploma or get out.
Like many students in his situation, Dunn said the first day at the Woolley Center was the hardest.
“I needed a little shove — it was kind of weird at first, but then it was fine,” he said. “I'm way glad I did it, now I don't have that sitting in the back of my head. I'm one less statistic in the sense that I'm a high school dropout and I went back and got my diploma.”
UCC's program isn't the only one in the county serving people who need to brush up on their education credentials.
“I'm in flux,” said Eva Reynolds, executive director of Project Literacy Douglas County. “Since September, I've had anywhere from 10 to 15 people at any time working on their GED.”
Before the recession, she said two or three students at a time was the norm for the drop-in center on Southeast Stephens Street.
“The reason they're excited about finishing now is because locally all the employers are requiring a GED or high school diploma,” she said.
Work place skills and getting comfortable with computers and software are part of class curriculum at the Woolley Center, as are the five areas covered by the GED — writing, reading, science, social studies and math.
“I call my class ‘reading, writing, arithmetic and everything else,' because a lot of interesting topics come up,” said Frank, who teaches pre-GED classes for students with reading levels below high school. “Just last week we had those free (Roseburg) maps and this one guy said, ‘Wow, now I know how to read a map.'”
While the recent boom population is a side-effect of the recession, Mageehon said she's not worried about what happens to program enrollment once the economy recovers.
“As the economy goes toward a more information base, those who need to get their GED will continue coming to us,” she said.
• Contact reporter DD Bixby at 541-957-4211 or e-mail dbixby@nrtoday.com.
When she accepted a post teaching adult education for Umpqua Community College, she witnessed the fallout of the controversy that disrupted the timber industry.
“I started in 1991 and classes were huge then – our classes are bigger when the unemployment is up,” she said last week from her office at the Workforce Training Center.
With unemployment up again, Frank and her colleagues in UCC's Adult Basic Skills Development program are aiding those edged out of the shrinking job market.
Help can mean getting students up to speed to earn GEDs or adult high school diplomas. Or it may be helping them pass the time until they get called back to work after temporary layoffs.
Ali Mageehon, the development program director, reported higher numbers of people studying for their GEDs, working on adult high school diplomas and working in English as a second language classes.
“We're pretty sure it has to do with the economy,” Mageehon said, adding that not only are there more students older than 25, but the average student age has increased as well.
Mageehon said the program has added sites around the county this school year to accommodate those living farther from Roseburg, in places such as Glide, Drain, Myrtle Creek, Glendale, Riddle and Canyonville. The Roseburg sites have been adding evening classes to absorb the influx, too.
“The Wednesday night class is like standing-room only,” she said of one class at the Woolley Center.
Al Springer, outreach coordinator for the program, said he's trying to cap classes at sites such as the Workforce Training Center. He said he's seeking to keep classes to no more than 25 students to maintain a quality learning environment.
Springer said attendance is more regular at the Roseburg sites than at the outreach sites. He said the latter sites have an open-enrollment policy due to the low numbers and greater number of people on temporary layoffs.
“My philosophy is we'll be here when they're ready,” Springer said. “Here, if life happens, life happens — if they have to go away and take care of stuff, that's OK.”
Kory Dunn, 26, is a student at Umpqua Community College and is seeking a transfer degree in chemistry, Spanish and geology.
Just last summer, Dunn received his high school diploma. The young man dropped out of high school in 2000.
“I just wanted to hang out with my friends and wanted to do that kind of thing,” he said in an interview earlier this year. “I worked for a while and wasn't getting anywhere, then I moved back in with my mom.”
After a while, his mom gave him an ultimatum: either get a GED or a diploma or get out.
Like many students in his situation, Dunn said the first day at the Woolley Center was the hardest.
“I needed a little shove — it was kind of weird at first, but then it was fine,” he said. “I'm way glad I did it, now I don't have that sitting in the back of my head. I'm one less statistic in the sense that I'm a high school dropout and I went back and got my diploma.”
UCC's program isn't the only one in the county serving people who need to brush up on their education credentials.
“I'm in flux,” said Eva Reynolds, executive director of Project Literacy Douglas County. “Since September, I've had anywhere from 10 to 15 people at any time working on their GED.”
Before the recession, she said two or three students at a time was the norm for the drop-in center on Southeast Stephens Street.
“The reason they're excited about finishing now is because locally all the employers are requiring a GED or high school diploma,” she said.
Work place skills and getting comfortable with computers and software are part of class curriculum at the Woolley Center, as are the five areas covered by the GED — writing, reading, science, social studies and math.
“I call my class ‘reading, writing, arithmetic and everything else,' because a lot of interesting topics come up,” said Frank, who teaches pre-GED classes for students with reading levels below high school. “Just last week we had those free (Roseburg) maps and this one guy said, ‘Wow, now I know how to read a map.'”
While the recent boom population is a side-effect of the recession, Mageehon said she's not worried about what happens to program enrollment once the economy recovers.
“As the economy goes toward a more information base, those who need to get their GED will continue coming to us,” she said.
• Contact reporter DD Bixby at 541-957-4211 or e-mail dbixby@nrtoday.com.
