Academic and Career Entrance, St. Clair College

A.C.E. Website
Organization: 
St. Clair College, Thames Campus, Academic and Career Entrance
Geography: 
Chatham, Ontario
Population: 
100,000 +
Sector: 
College-based program
Stream: 
Anglophone
Change Makers: 
Mark Benoit
Louise Markovich
Deb Wilmott

The Academic and Career Entrance (ACE) program in Chatham is in its first year and is already making strides in the community with its comprehensive training programs. The program began with 40 students in 2010 and now has 104 students registered for the upcoming term.

Students reach out to the ACE program for a multitude of reasons but, according to Program Coordinator Louise Markovich, the main goals are becoming college-ready and employability. Since the recession, Chatham has seen an economic downturn with rising unemployment rates. Adults are looking to gain the necessary skills to compete and the ACE program is meeting their needs. Looking to the future, the ACE program has put together a detailed business plan that charts a path to growth through learner recruitment, retention and innovative marketing strategies.

Change Action: 

Being new to the literacy and essential skills field, the ACE program staff found the training at the Spotlight on Learning conference highly useful. Committed to filtering the learning to their team of five part-time teachers, their plan is to conduct monthly training sessions that bring the staff together to increase their collective knowledge and capacity.

Each month the focus will be on a different learning tool, model or strategy. With most of the teachers working part-time, staff are also looking to the monthly sessions as an opportunity to connect the team and learn from each other. 

Watch the staff video to hear more about the ACE program.

 

Staff Video: 
See video

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