Clark State College Workforce and Business Solutions will begin offering English as a Second Language (ESL) training beginning today, January 8, at the Brinkman Education Center in downtown Springfield.
Clark State partnered with Clark County Department of Job & Family Services (JFS) to provide this training to members of the community.
“This collaborative effort between Clark State College and the Clark County Department of Job & Family Services demonstrates our organizations’ dedication to workforce development and our community,” said Dr. Crystal Jones, vice president of marketing, diversity and community impact at Clark State. “This training will assist over 400 learners to acquire the skills needed to be successful.”
Jones said the uniqueness of this program is the built in workforce readiness assessment that is aligned with the learner’s interest.
“This assessment will suggest next steps to learners,” she said. “These steps could be additional training, employment, college enrollment, etc. Furthermore, the initiative is directly related to Clark State’s mission and vision, to empower diverse learners and partner to provide intellectual, personal, and professional growth.”
Dr. Virginia Martycz, director of the Clark County Department of Job & Family Services said the organization is looking forward to this partnership with Clark State.
“Many members of our community, especially in the Haitian Creole community, need ESL training in order to join our workforce,” she said. “JFS will be screening individuals who are receiving assistance who are work required to determine suitability for this training and registering them.’
Martycz said the goal is for individuals to learn basic language skills to enable them to find a job that allows them to be self-sufficient members of the community.
‘This is one of the supports provided through OhioMeansJobs,” she said. “We work with all members of our community to help remove barriers to employment.”
Funded by JFS, a total of 10 classes will be offered over the next two years with the plan to have 20 students per class. Students will receive a completion certificate.
“We have left room to add extra courses at the end of each year to serve more students if we need to,” said Tracy Yates, director of workforce and business solutions at Clark State. “The four language domains will be covered in the training.”
ESL course sessions are four weeks in length, taking place Monday through Friday.
“This partnership between Clark State and the Department of Job and Family Services demonstrates our commitment that we have to our community through workforce,” said Yates.