The Human Services Pathway Graduation was held at Project for Pride and Living (PPL) on May 28.
This graduating class was the 12th cohort of the program, which runs from September to May (nine months), and provides 10 college credits that the graduates can apply to future/learning degrees.
Normandale is the education partner for the program, which is grant funded and offered at no cost to the participants. PPL runs the program, and Dakota, Hennepin and Ramsey counties are the employer partners, who speak at classes and host students for onsite learning opportunities.
Students attended classes two to three nights per week and learned about topics ranging from business writing, communications, and Word, Excel, PowerPoint computer skills. They also received resume writing and interviewing skills.
Many of the students hadn’t considered colleges, and were balancing a number of other time demands such as jobs, child care, household needs and other obligations.
All of the graduates spoke at the ceremony, and some common themes included personal growth and that “it is never too late to go back to school”. All of the students were excited to serve others in mission-based work of the Human Services profession. The jobs they trained for are customer facing, helping others get connected to government benefits (i.e. child support, health care navigation, child protection, etc.).
top
