INDIANAPOLIS – The Indiana Department of Workforce Development and Indiana Association for Adult and Continuing Education honored Hoosier adult learners and Indiana employers at the 2024 Adult Education Day ceremony, held today at the Indiana Statehouse, including Stone City Products in Bedford, Bloomington Center for Global Children and Perdue Farms in Washington.
“Governor Holcomb’s agenda focuses on education, training, and connecting Hoosiers to the right resources at the right time,” said DWD Commissioner Richard Paulk. “Adult Education is a proven way of ensuring job seekers’ and employers’ workforce needs in new and existing industry sectors across the state are met. I’m thankful to celebrate the many accomplishments of every learner, provider, and employer here today.”
Through numerous programs, adult education students earn credentials, receive post-secondary education, achieve sustainable employment, and reach economic self-sufficiency. In Indiana, 70% of adult learners are employed after earning their HSE and experience an average wage increase of more than $8,800 annually. Between July 1, 2022, and June 30, 2023, approximately 3,808 Hoosier adult learners earned their high school equivalent.
More than 250 adult education class locations – in-person or online – in the state offer students opportunities to increase their skills, learn English, access training, obtain industry-recognized credentials, and earn a higher-paying job.
“Adult education has forged my future in so many incredible ways,” said Keith Pressley of Schererville, the first-place finisher of the 2024 IAACE Essay Contest. “When I first enrolled almost two years ago, I never would have guessed the high degree of success I would achieve quickly.”
Pressley earned his HSE after taking classes at the Tri-Town Adult Learning Center in Schererville. After earning his HSE, he accepted a part and warehouse associate job at Rush Enterprises.
During the ceremony, 16 business partners were recognized for offering adult education classes to their staff. Employers were honored for one or more of the following:
- Providing employees’ wages for attending adult education classes;
- Supplying classroom space and computers or other technology to support students;
- Providing other classroom materials and supplies;
- Funding the cost to pay teachers and instructors, and
- Offering permanent employment to workers who completed classes.
“We want to use adult education to retain, attract, and broaden the skills of our current employees,” said Kirby Risk Lafayette Plant Manager Adam Franklin. “We already have a waitlist for our next class, and we want to continue to use this to promote other Spanish-speaking individuals to come work at Kirby Risk and teach them the skills they need to be valuable.”
DWD administers adult education programs in all of Indiana’s 92 counties. Indiana is among the nation’s top states in multiple adult education categories:
- 1 for student achievement and growth, with Indiana leading the nation for the last five years in student achievement;
- 3 for the number of high school equivalency diplomas awarded and
- 3 for career-based certifications awarded.
The DWD Flickr account has photos from the 2024 Adult Education Day ceremony at the Indiana Statehouse.
