Expansion of Adult Educational Programs on the Island
Two new efforts are underway to expand the adult educational programs on Washington Island. One effort being championed by Robert Cornell involves expanding service on the Island by Northeastern Wisconsin Technical College. The second is the offering of computer short courses by iTECH Inc.
Expanding NWTC Service to the Island
In November Robert Cornell, Amy Jorgenson and Doug Straus met at the School with Dr. Jeff Rafn (the President of NWTC) and Lori Suddick (NWTC’s Vice President for Learning). The discussion concerned not only the NWTC services to the Island High School students, but the NWTC general education offerings to the Island.
During this discussion Dr. Rafn and Ms. Suddick agreed that courses being offered at other locations could be broadcast to the Island which would extend Island participation. The technology required is being put in place.
Frequent cancellation of scheduled NWTC courses on the Island because of low enrollment was discussed. Dr. Rafn extended a commitment to not cancel a class for limited enrollment. In return he asked that the community help NWTC figure out just what courses could be offered that would insure maximum participation. “Just what type of courses does the Island want?” was the big question. Are they business management courses? Courses in software such as Quicken, Word, Excel, Adobe? What courses could be offered that would be more likely to get people enrolled? Is there an opportunity for young adults to take required technical school courses here on the Island and thus avoid some of the expense of living elsewhere? What courses could be offered to assist in economic development and job opportunities?
In order to answer these question and help develop better relationships, other rural communities have set up “Educational Advisory Committees” (Florence County has been fairly successful with theirs) that consist of School Board Members, Town Board members and interested community members. It was determined that Washington Island should set up such an advisory committee. The role of this committee would be to serve as a liaison between the technical school and the community to clarify what the community is looking for from NWTC.
As a result of this discussion, the establishment of an Island Educational Advisory Committee is underway. After discussions at recent School Board and Town Board meetings, three members have been selected. Liz Holmes will represent the Town Board. Joan Kuhn and Amy Jorgenson will represent the School Board. Robert Cornell is bringing together other representatives of the community.
As Mr. Cornell observed, “This in small part would bring some of our tax dollars back to the community. Additional equipment and the support of the technical college also could potentially enhance the offerings available to our K-12 students.”
Technology Course Offerings on the Island
iTECH Inc. is a company that Jerry Maiers brought with him when he “retired” to Washington Island. iTECH is a 15-year-old business that focuses on technical support for education. Maiers has been providing technical support to the Island School District for the past two plus years.
Until the NWTC opportunities are expanded, iTECH will provide a series of computer short courses and workshops. The initial offering will be three introductory courses on Microsoft Office programs: Excel, Word and Power Point. Each of these classes will meet for three evenings (6:30 to 8 PM) at the Washington Island School.
The Introductory Excel course will be held February 21st, 22nd, and 23rd. This short course will deal with the basics, including navigation around the tool bar and menus. Emphasis will be on the built-in help function that can help the user expand his or her skills. The course will combine demonstration and hands-on use. School computers will be used in this introductory course. An advanced Excel course is planned for later in the Spring.
The Microsoft Word course will be held the following week, February 28th, March 1st and 2nd. The course will also deal with the basics and the built-in help support. While Word can be used as an expensive typewriter, a focus of this short course is to help the student be comfortable with text, paragraph and document formatting. Again, an advanced Word course is planned to deal with the confusing differences between the 2003, 2007 and 2010 versions of Microsoft Word.
The Power Point course will be held March 7th, 8th and 9th. This introductory course will assume no previous experience with the software. It will focus on the basics of preparing a Power Point presentation for someone who has never done it before. There will be a discussion of style and quality Power Point presentations.
The fee for each of the courses will be $15. Call iTECH, at 535-0707, to reserve a place in these classes.
