At HopeWorks, it’s our mission to help our neighbors succeed in achieving their goals and dreams. We’re dedicated to providing exceptional education and learning experiences that allow our students the opportunity for meaningful employment. One way we’ve recently embarked upon this goal is through our IET program.

Integrated Education and Training (IET) simultaneously provides adult education and literacy activities along with workforce preparation and training activities. IETs focus on a specific occupation or occupations with the goal of education and career advancement. To be considered an IET, each program must contain components of:

• Adult education and literacy
• Workforce preparation
• Workforce training

HopeWorks’ first IET program began in January 2021. This cohort focused on industrial technical occupations and was tailored to meet the needs of partner organizations Kruger Tissue Group, Instant Brands (Corelle) and Olympus Surgical Technologies. Teachers Zachary Dime of HopeWorks and John Churchill of TechEd2Go instructed students through TechEd2Go’s program called Career Occupation and Readiness Training Plus (CORE+).

A typical day in the classroom consisted of soft skills and basic technical skills training with exercises and activities that simulated real-life situations and workplace scenarios. After class, students were required to complete eight hours of homework per week. Toward the end of the course, partner organizations were able to observe what students learned in a classroom environment.

At the end of HopeWorks’ first IET, 12 out of 13 students completed the course. By March 2021, 10 students received interviews, seven received job offers and three accepted positions and began the onboarding process.

Through IET, our students are given the tools and taught the skills necessary to create a better life for themselves. If you’re interested in learning more about IET or would like your organization to partner with HopeWorks on the next session, please contact Zachary Dime.