"Nobody's Gonna Break Her Stride" DACC's Dual-Credit Program a Success: Las Cruces Bulletin, 8/03/07

"Nobody’'s gonna break her stride"’

DACC’-s Dual-Credit Program a Success

8/3/07

BY TERI HOPE

For the Las Cruces Bulletin

               Measuring the success of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) in the Southwestern Region is very simple; if you don’t succeed, then we don’t succeed. Elizabeth Quizada’s success, therefore, is celebrated not only by the 42 members of the Southwestern Area Workforce Development Board (SAWDB), but by the numerous WIA program providers and participants who are working each year to improve the local job market and labor force.

               The success of the Doña Ana Community College Bridge Manufacturing Program and its participants “testify to what can be accomplished when government, education and industry get together in a united effort,” said Vince Thomas, program coordinator. The program was launched in 2005 using $140,000 in WIA funds and Carl Perkins funding, along with another $25,000 in WIA funding provided last year. Currently it is contracted with WIA’s Youth Program in Doña Ana County, Families and Youth, Inc. (FYI).

               In response to New Mexican manufacturers who expressed concern about their hiring needs and the lack of skilled laborers in the region, U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman asked his local staff to help link education with employment opportunities. Gov. Bill Richardson also offered his support, directing his local staff to help create and launch this program. He identified Gadsden School District as the focal point for the pilot program.

               Organizers developed a curriculum that supports many different types of manufacturing activities and ensures that all students have a chance to succeed while earning both college and high school credit.

               Quizada was one of the first students to go through the dual-credit program. Coming “from a lower income family,” Thomas said, Quizada faced many obstacles to education. “This is sad for such a bright young lady. With help from WIA she was able to go through the program and is now attending DACC full time, studying architectural drafting with the hope of continuing at (the University of New Mexico) to become an architect,” he said. “Elizabeth currently works for DACC in its work-study program helping (bridge program) instructor John Pallares.”

“The bridge program encouraged me to go on,” Quizada said. “It showed me that I could do something great with my life. I also had an opportunity to be exposed to college life and to believe that I could do it,” she added.

               The success of the program itself has garnered national attention, with recognition last year by the U.S. Department of Education in Washington D.C. as a model for future programs nationwide. The program recently graduated its third class, and with its contract with WIA provider FYI, it plans to launch its fourth class in the coming weeks. “This program gives young people hope, lets them know they can succeed, that it is possible,” Thomas said. He noted that many students coming into his program feel that they don’t have many options for their future after high school, but go on to attend a secondary educational institutes. The southwestern region -- which includes Catron, Doña Ana, Grant, Hidalgo, Luna, Sierra, and Socorro counties – faces many unique economic and rural conditions.

               Five students from the first class were able to find jobs with ADC Telecommunications, a manufacturing company in the Santa Teresa Industrial Park. Thomas noted that he ran into one of these students who was “simply thrilled to death” with his ongoing employment. “He said to me that if it had not been for the program he wouldn’t be where he is now,” Thomas said.

Teri Hope is the outreach technical specialist for the SAWDB and can be reached at (505) 744-4857 or by visiting www.swjobconnect.org. Visit your local office of Workforce Solutions for information on Workforce Investment Opportunities.