The manufacturing company employs about 150 workers, about 10 of whom were recruited from the college's bilingual vocational program. Since there's more to job training than learning to work a welding torch, the program also focuses on universally applicable skills such as interviewing tips and resume preparation. Though language abilities are emphasized somewhat less than technical skills, instructors do present material in both languages so that students can learn to speak and read English. Since then, she said, the program has been geared partly to getting students who previously spoke only limited English to enroll in the college's general enrollment classes, which are taught in English. Making the courses accessible to students is another priority for Vasquez and Norberto Nunez, the program's co-creator as adult education program assistant.
Some employers help make up that cost by contributing money from their training budget.
Scheduling is intentionally flexible. Instructors encourage students to attend as often as possible, which for working students usually means weeknights or just Saturdays. Vasquez and Nunez say this has allowed students from as far away as Lake Forest and San Fernando to drive in once a week for training. At the end of a semester, students may receive a certificate of completion, depending on the course taken. That piece of paper alone can translate directly into better wages, said Daryabuth Martinez, a program assistant to the college's adult education program.