"Each November, colleges across Texas celebrate adult-education initiatives – the kind aimed at putting people to work or into better jobs – through a variety of events collectively called Accelerate TEXAS.
Amarillo College will observe Accelerate Texas Week (Nov. 12-18) with a focus on the Certified Nurse Aide (CNA) program.
Accelerate Texas is an initiative funded by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB). It is designed to integrate basic skills with career and technical pathways to help adult students acquire skills and certificates in high-demand occupations.
AC’s CNA program is often the first step on a career pathway in the healthcare field. Completers of this program may enter the workforce as a CNA and then later move on to earn additional healthcare certificates or nursing degrees. Typical next-step career training for CNAs may include Patient Care Technician, Clinical Medical Assistant, Licensed Vocational Nurse, or Associate Degree Nurse.
Amarillo College offers a variety of certificate and degree programs at its campuses in Amarillo, Dumas and Hereford. AC’s Academic Success Division collaborates with many of these programs to assist students who need to strengthen their basic language, reading, writing, and math skills while starting to train for a career in healthcare, business, technical, and other in-demand occupation fields.
“We know that many adult learners in the state are not prepared to enter college and succeed,” says David Gardner, THECB deputy commissioner. “THECB and our Accelerate Texas colleges are changing all that. We’re showing how integrating basic skills and workforce training can help adult learners earn credentials.”
For more information about Accelerate Texas Week at AC, please call Janice Johnston, grants director for the Academic Success Division, at 371-5421."
-Amarillo College
