By Jessica Tuggle
jtuggle@hometownnewsol.com
INDIAN RIVER COUNTY - New classes have been added to the schedule for the upcoming winter at Indian River County Adult Education, including a new session of home health aide certification training.
The home health aide program is designed for people who need to jumpstart their career in caring for the elderly, said school officials.
The 100-hour program begins Nov. 30 and goes through Dec. 18, said Linda Greer, a class instructor.
Home health aides are people who care for the daily needs of individuals in their own homes or some in assisted living facilities.
"It could be brushing teeth, bathing, moving in and out of wheelchairs, giving medication or feeding, or any number of things," said Ms. Greer.
"We train our students with 90 percent hands-on work, the 30 or more skills they need to enter the workforce once they complete our class and receive their certification," she said.
As a career path, the program is especially needful in Indian River County because of the high volume of retirees who may have need of the services, Ms. Greer said.
As a part of the Indian River County School District, Adult and Community Education School offers general education classes, English as a second language, GED preparatory classes, continuous learning classes, such as computer or tai chi, and career and technical classes, such as the home health aide program, said Brandy Douglas, occupational outreach coordinator.
"We have a lot of the same programs that the state college has, but at a different price and pace," said Ms. Douglas.
If someone is unemployed and needs to be trained in a new set of skills quickly, before unemployment runs out, classes at Adult Education may be the perfect thing, she said.
The classes are also perfect for individuals who aren't sure if they are prepared to go back to school full-time and want to ease into studying mode, Ms. Douglas said.
Some of the other classes that will soon be offered begin include an unarmed security officer, culinary arts, classes for commercial class B licenses to drive buses or construction equipment and the popular medical assistant program.
"These days, all our classes fill up pretty quick and we have small class sizes," said Ms. Douglas.
"All of our program graduates have about an 80 percent rate of getting jobs in their fields after they graduate, so we encourage anyone to check us out," she said.
For more information, call (772) 564-4977 or visit http://indianriverschools.org/Schools/AdultEd/Pages/default.aspx.