By Jay Roe
The Brookings Register
BROOKINGS —The local Adult Education and Literacy Program has a new address, but the group’s mission remains unchanged — helping adults improve themselves educationally, at no cost.
Carla Steffensen has been program coordinator for 19 years. She said in early March the organization relocated to 2301 Research Park Way, Suite 160.
“Our main client is individuals who do not have a high school diploma, so we teach prep classes,” she said. “There’s four separate classes — language arts, science, social studies and math. They need to prepare for those subjects, and then take a test in each. Once they have passed each of those, they will earn their GED.”
The program is funded by the South Dakota Department of Labor and overseen by Lake Area Technical College.
“We are funded underneath the Department of Labor — the (Workforce Innovation and Opportunity) program,” Steffensen said. “Our funding has to go to a nonprofit organization, so Lake Area Tech basically controls the money … They actually have two programs — the adult ed program in Brookings and the adult ed program in Watertown. It’s one program together. Then I’m the director for the program and also the instructor in Brookings.”
She said they customize each student’s learning experience.
“Everybody has a story. Everybody has their responsibilities,” Steffensen said. “A lot of our students — because they don’t have a high school diploma — work in low-income jobs and perhaps even have two jobs so they can provide for their families. The more responsibilities they have, the less time they have to come in … On average, it takes about six months to complete a GED.”
She said classes are free, but the GED testing is not.
“We provide all the books, the materials and other things,” Steffensen said. “When it comes time to take the assessments, the GED testing service charges a fee for that. So students are responsible for paying for that. Each one of those sections for the test is $50 — so it’s $200 altogether. That is not something we charge though. That’s a fee the GED testing service charges.”
The GED prep classes are just one of the services offered through the program.
“We do offer basic literacy classes in reading, writing and math for individuals that perhaps need to increase their math level for a job,” Steffensen said. “Perhaps they want to go on to school and need to brush up before they take the placement test. We’ve had individuals that went to enroll in college and took the placement test, but they didn’t score high enough. So they’ll come to us, we’ll help them, and then they go back and take the placement test again.”
They’ll also offer English language classes soon.
“The other clientele we are just beginning to work with again — we did in the past, but it kind of stopped when COVID hit — is English language learners,” Steffensen said. “(Those students) have to be 18 or older, can’t be enrolled in a K-12 private or public school and also have to provide documentation that they are here legally … They cannot be here on a school visa or a visitor visa. The reason is that the state says if they’re coming here for college, the college is responsible for them and they should have good enough English skills already.”
She said all the classes are focused on helping people improve their lives.
“There’s nothing better than helping somebody better themselves,” Steffensen said. “It helps get them off the welfare system, it helps make them feel better about themselves and then they can go out and become a more productive citizen. They have their education, so now they can go get that job that wouldn’t hire them without a high school diploma or a GED, they can provide for their families, or they can go on to college if they choose. Our goal is to help individuals become productive members of society.”
She said it’s rewarding seeing students better themselves.
“We have many students who will go on and get degrees like nursing,” Steffensen said. “I know an individual who got her GED, then went on to Lake Area Tech and got an LPN degree. From there, she went to USD and got her RN degree. She’s been very successful, works at the Watertown hospital and just moved up to being a floor supervisor … This is something that is very much needed. Without us here, just where would those individuals go?”
She said the Brookings chapter had 69 clients during the current fiscal year, and they accept enrollment year round.
“We are listed on the Lake Area Technical College website under the Adult Education and Literacy program,” Steffensen said. “There’s a form (students) can fill out that comes directly to me, and then I contact them. They can just stop in here or they can call me.”
Steffensen can be reached at 605-902-3821, carla.steffensen@lakeareatech.edu or through the website https://www.lakeareatech.edu/academics/adult-education-literacy.
Contact Jay Roe at jroe@brookingsregister.com.
