Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Adult Education topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Moorhead Adult Education describes services for immigrants, refugees and adult learners
Summary
Tammy Schatz, director with Moorhead Adult Education, told the Moorhead Human Rights Commission the program runs seven sites across five counties, serves about 467 students and offers free English, diploma and career-pathway classes, volunteer tutoring and community partnerships.
Tammy Schatz, of Moorhead Adult Education, told the Moorhead Human Rights Commission that the program operates seven sites across 13 school districts and five counties and provides free adult learning services including English-language instruction, Minnesota Adult Diploma and GED preparation, computer classes and career-pathway courses.
"We are actually a consortium or a collection of sites. We have 7 sites. Moorhead is our primary one, but we also offer programming within Clay County," Schatz said. She told commissioners Moorhead Adult Education had 16 staff, about 467 students and roughly 20,000 contact hours in the last school year, and that 41 countries were represented among enrolled learners.
Schatz said the program provides on-site Pearson VUE GED testing so students can earn a diploma at the Vista site, and noted recently enacted state funding that covers the first exam in each GED subject. "Thank you to Governor Walz and the Minnesota legislature," she said, adding that the subsidy reduces testing costs that can otherwise be a barrier for learners.
The program emphasizes individualized placement and progress tracking, Schatz said: students take a timed reading exam at orientation, are assigned a personalized education plan and are post-tested every 40 contact hours to document gains and move into higher-level classes.
Schatz highlighted volunteer tutors and institutional partnerships as central to programming, describing collaborations with area colleges and volunteers who bring arts, storytelling and classroom supports. She read reflections from a Concordia student who partnered with an adult-education learner and described the experience as transforming both volunteers and students.
Chair Siham Mamedi of the Moorhead Human Rights Commission congratulated Schatz on receiving a Human Rights Award and praised the program’s long-term presence and community impact. "It takes a lot of patience. It takes a lot of heart," Mamedi said.
Schatz closed by describing student recognition events that honor diplomas, U.S. citizenship, employment milestones and other achievements; she also noted the program’s “library” space for resource sharing and informal community-building.
The presentation was followed by a brief question-and-answer period with commissioners and attendees about volunteering and community partnerships.
