WDC-funded cohorts graduate in June

Twenty-two LPN students at South Seattle Community College are among those graduating this month from the college cohorts purchased by the WDC last year using stimulus funds. See the press release or  learn more about cohorts…

In addition to the college graduation ceremony, the LPN students at SSCC are hosting their own “pinning ceremony,” a tradition to welcome newly graduated nurses into the profession. The ceremony is at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, June 22, at the Brockey Center at SSCC.  Press release for more info…

More than 200 students at seven community and technical colleges across King County are attending classes that would not otherwise exist because this new model. The cohorts (a series of classes for a single group of students), funded by the Recovery Act (stimulus), meet a critical need in the community to expand training for in-demand occupations. There are students eager to enter these professions, and employers who are eager to hire, but not enough classes available. LPN employment, for example, is expected to grow by 21 percent between 2008 and 2018, but classes are expensive for colleges to offer, waiting lists are long, and tuition too costly for many students.

To create this opportunity, the WDC contracted with the colleges to cover instructor costs for the nine-month program and worked closely with each college to shape the curriculum. Students not only receive financial assistance that covers tuition, books, lab kits, scrubs, and shoes, but other support services including tutoring, career counseling, and in some cases, transportation passes and/or food assistance.  Each student also has a WDC-funded advocate in the form of a WorkSource case manager who is with them emotionally every step of the way.

Ron Cabuag, a student of the South Seattle LPN cohort who was featured in the WDC’s 2009 Annual Report, was struggling to get into an LPN program until he was accepted into the WDC cohort.  Now, from “just barely making it,” he will earn $20 or more an hour as an LPN.

“This is pretty much a dream come true,” he says. “It changed my life, and I mean that from my heart.”

For 31-year old former barista A.J. Bergeron, the grant funding enabled her to afford the program, but the support from her case manager helped her complete it.

“Basically, he was an all-around resource for me to lean on to get through the program,” she explained. “All of the case managers want you to succeed, and they worked really hard to help you get through.”

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