After an unsuccessful attempt at passing the GED exam, Shirley Alvia was hesitant to join LaGuardia Community College’s GED program. But, after some persuasion from her husband, Alvia decided to enroll in September of 2008.
Three months later, she had passed the exam, and she entered one of LaGuardia’s hospital care programs, where she is studying to be a medical office technician.
“I’m so glad that I went through the program,” said Alvia.
Students that are 19 and over who do not have a high school diploma and would like to pursue their GED can enroll in LaGuardia’s Bridge to College and Careers program, which is helping students prepare for the exam by giving them the solid foundation for a career in the fields of health care or business. According to their web site, the program provides “preparation in all five GED subject areas, taught through a specialized business or health careers curriculum.”
The classes at LaGuardia are “three times per week for GED instruction, nine hours weekly,” according to Linda Chin, program coordinator of the Bridge to Health Careers program.
Students receive a “contextualized curriculum,” which focuses on their occupational interests. “All the readings we’re doing are related to a medical theme,” said Chin, citing Lisa Belkin’s book about medical ethics, First, Do No Harm, as an example. This prepares them for the next step, once they pass the GED.
Students receive help filling out applications to colleges, certification programs as well as advice on financial aid. They also have the opportunity to participate in internships that “mirror the job-seeking process.”
During these internships, students go through the interview and application process, as well as take the physical examinations and criminal background checks, all the things required by various employers.
The fields of specialization are “recession-proof,” according to Randy Fader-Smith, LaGuardia’s associate director of public relations. They are “trying to get these students up and running to get their education and immediately get into a career.”
Since LaGuardia launched the program in April 2007, the success rates are way above the national average of 27 percent. Of the 57 students who have taken the GED exam at LaGuardia, 65 percent passed. In addition, 62 percent of that group either entered college or enrolled in a certification program.
Fader-Smith credits the success rate to the introduction of the specialization programs. “It gets the students excited about their studies” and provides for a “seamless transition” into their field. “They actually see that there is a direction, a future, in what they’re studying.”
