Allan Hancock College Atkinson Lifelong Learning Center

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Allan Hancock College Atkinson Lifelong Learning
Center

• Taking the Classroom
• to the Community
• Project Date October 2004-September 2007
• Ardis Neilsen, Dean, Community Education
• Elaine Healy, Coordinator, Community Education

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Allan Hancock College

• Two-year community college located in
• Santa Maria, California

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Allan Hancock College

• Campuses Santa Maria, Lompoc, Solvang, and VAFB
• Credit enrollment 11,000 students
• Noncredit enrollment 5,000-6,000 students

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Community Education

• Noncredit classes in basic skills, ESL,
  citizenship, health, older adults
• Open-entry, open-exit classes
• Open to anyone 18 and over
• Classes are FREE!
• ESL 1400 - 1600 students per semester

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City of Santa Maria

• Known as the BBQ Capital
• Heart of Wine
• Country

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City of Santa Maria

• Agriculture is the largest industry
• The Citys 1 crop is strawberries.

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City of Santa Maria

• Approximately 60 of the Citys population is
  Hispanic. (Pop. approx 90,000)
• 248 increase in the Hispanic population between
  1980 and 2000.
• Mixtec Immigration Santa Maria has the largest
  Mixtec population outside of Mexico.

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Mixtec Immigration

• Approx. 20,000 Mixtec immigrants from Oaxaca live
  in Santa Maria.
• 92 dialects of Mixtec are spoken.
• Many Mixtecs speak little English or Spanish.

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Unique Challenges for Immigrants

• Language barrier
• Lack of formal schooling
• Insufficient income to afford decent housing
• Cultural differences
• Digital Dividelack of access to technology
• Residents rarely venture beyond their own
  neighborhood.

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Bridging the Distance

• Challenges
• Empower residents toward educational and economic
  advancement.
• offer enticements to enter the world of lifelong
  learning.
• Make these individuals visible in the
  community.
• Prior to starting educational classes these were
  people who
• were the invisible of this communitythey did not
  venture
• outside their neighborhoods (Ginnie Sterling,
  Santa Maria
• Times).

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Community Focus Group Identifies Needs (2003)

• A neighborhood resource center
• English as a Second Language classes
• Job training
• Health care services (due to lack of health
  insurance among over 70 of respondents)
• Parenting classes
• ? focus group was held May 2003 with community
  residents.

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What Wont Work

• Asking students to
• Pay tuition
• Travel to the main AHC campus
• Enroll in semester-length classes

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What Might Work . . .

• Bringing the most needed educational programs and
  technology access to the neighborhood at no cost
  or a very low-cost.

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Grant Goal

• Partner with City of Santa Maria and community
  agencies to
• empower residents by offering opportunities for
  educational and economic advancement.

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Project Site Atkinson Center
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Project Site Atkinson Center
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Community Partners

• City of Santa Maria
• construct lab/classroom
• expand recreation area by adding a sports field,
  playground
• expand parking lot
• Boys Girls Club
• offer summer scholarships to children (ages 6-18)
  of parents attending classes
• CARES, Inc.
• provide limited childcare to children of parents
  attending class
• AHC
• provide educational services
• manage project

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Project Site Atkinson Center

• Located 2 ½ miles from the main AHC campus
• Across the street from Boys Girls Club
• Adjacent to elementary school
• Situated in a low-income residential neighborhood

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The Surrounding Community

• Predominately Hispanic and low-income
  individuals
• Census Tract 23.03 83.4 low to moderate income
  (LMI)
• Census Tract 23.04 is 81.6 LMI
• Estimate of the percentage of foreign-born
  individuals within Census Tracts is 48.3 (23.03)
  and 50.7 (23.04)

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Challenges for Residents of the Project Area

• language barriers
• cultural differences
• lack of education
• insufficient income to afford housing
• lack of transportation

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Grant Activity 1

• Build a community learning center
• Classroom
• State-of-the-art computer lab

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Atkinson Center (2004)

• Expand recreation area and parking lot

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Activity 2

• Activity Two Provide Educational Services and
  Access to Technology
• Provide noncredit courses for educational and
  economic advancement.
• Create a computer lab to address residents lack
  of access to technology.
• Create a website to include links to community
  resources.
• Provide limited childcare for children of parents
  who are attending classes.

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Finally!Allan Hancock College Atkinson Lifelong
Learning Center (2006)
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Allan Hancock College Atkinson Lifelong Learning
Center
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Allan Hancock College Atkinson Lifelong Learning
Center
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Surrounding Community
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Recreation Area
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Recreation Area
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Outreach is CriticalIf You Build It, They Will
Come . . .

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Outreach to Community Announcing Grand Opening

• Flyers 1000 distributed
• door-to-door
• elementary school jrhs
• New releases, PSA, community calendar target
  English Spanish media
• Print ads, both languages, noncredit class
  schedule 80,000 distribution
• Mailed invitations to community agencies, city
  and college representatives, media

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Open House August 18, 2006
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Open House

• Ribbon Cutting AHC, Community Partners, and
• City of Santa Maria Chamber of Commerce

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Open House

• Over 200 people attended the open house.
• 114 people registered for classes in less than
  three hours.

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Open House Computer Lab
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Open House Computer Lab
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Open House

• Counseling assistance available at open house

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AHC Atkinson Lifelong Learning Center
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17 Bilingual Class Sections 2007 spring
semester

• ESL Lecture Language Lab
• Intro to Computers Levels 1 2
• Preparation for Citizenship
• Preparation for GED
• Digital Photography Levels 1 2
• Reading Writing Workshop
• Landscape / Gardening
• Needle Arts
• Fitness
• 13 part-time faculty

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ESL Lecture
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ESL Lecture
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ESL Language Lab
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ESL Language Lab
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ESL Language Lab
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Classes Digital Photography
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Classes Digital Photography
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Enrollment Increasing
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Project Website
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Project Website
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Challenges

• Managing a construction project
• Obtaining environmental impact report
• Partnerships

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Successes

• Regional Award Award of Excellence - City of
  Santa Maria Recreation Parks
• Submitting project for state level award

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More Successes

• Increased visibility of college in the community
  important with recent passage of a general
  obligation community bond
• Student satisfaction survey 95 positive
• exceeded 80 goal
• Enrollment 700 students/semester
• exceeded goal of 600 students per year
• Strong partnerships developed
• City of SM Boys Girls Club
• Leveraged Resources
• Driscoll Berries Inc. SB Foundation
  Dougan Grant

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Next Steps . . .

• Sustain the project
• Develop a citizenship program application
  processing support workshop
• SB Foundation
• Establish an on-site educational counseling
  office
• Develop additional Lifelong Learning Centers in
  community next HUD grant?

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Sustainability More than a Project

• Invite additional CBOs to offer services at the
  center
• Continue to leverage resources
• Create educational pathways
• Noncredit to credit

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Thank you HUD OUP!

• Thank you for giving me the opportunity to
  learn.
• Its nice that you offer these classes, you help
  us so much. Thank you.
• We are happy with the classes and the center
  because we live nearby and dont drive.
• Thank you to all the persons who made this
  project possible.