Jonathan Togstad

Chinook Writer

While many students succeed in a traditional classroom and education setting, others often find that the average public school classroom impedes their education. The Adult Learning Center is working to address this problem. Located in the Werner Tech building, the Adult Learning Center assists non-traditional students in GED/HiSet testing, career skills, college readiness, and many other partner programs. The center’s aim is to not only educate students who have struggled in the past, but to also assist students in overcoming the large barriers to education they may face. The center served 306 students last year – the number makes it the third-largest high school in Natrona County.

A major program offered by the center is English as a second language, which assists students not only domestically but also internationally. Director of the Adult Learning Center, Kat Bohr-Buresh, emigrated from Germany as a child, and the center hired her to teach English as a second language in 2016. She said, “That was a really wonderful experience because the students and I had so much in common. Maybe my English skills were significantly higher at that point, but I could be their teacher and I had a lot of the same experiences.”

Bohr-Buresh’s teaching skills lead her to role director last year, where she now handles administrative needs and organizes student outreach programs alongside Wyoming’s state advocate for adult education and instructor Rochelle Hampton.

Since the center is focused on the non-traditional student, the staff is flexible when it comes to class schedules and caters to the different ways someone might learn. For example, students can choose to take classes face-to-face, online, or take home a workbook. The center also offers a guided lab for students who want to learn at their own pace, but might need occasional help from an instructor.

“Everyone can learn. They just have to do it in their own way,” said Rochelle Hampton. “I really like working with adults and helping them find those resources they need, and showing them that the classroom doesn’t always have to look like it does in a traditional school.” 

The non-traditional nature of the center’s teaching style attracts students who often encounter terrible experiences in the traditional school system. Students’ peers can be a hurdle to their education, for others certain teachers lead to a negative experience, and the parents of many do not see education as essential. The center prioritizes connecting students to other assistance programs, and Bohr-Buresh called these connections a crucial aspect of the center’s success.

She said, “When you don’t have food to eat you can’t concentrate on class. And if you don’t have transportation you can’t come to class.”

The center’s mission is both to educate students who were not able to graduate from high school, and to make that education possible by alleviating some of the struggles students endure. 

For the students who have utilized and taken advantage of the learning opportunities the center offers, they have been very successful in reaching their life goals. In addition to its other programs, the center works with the Casper Reentry Center to assist individuals with reintegrating into their communities, as well as their education goals. Former ALC student and current Casper College student Bryce Dacus completed the program and helped his peers. Dacus battled addiction issues and came out on top. Evan Fagerstone, another student who has had great success at the center, said that he started attending the center in a time of hardship. He could not attend public school due to time constraints, and the center helped him finish his schooling and look to his future. With all the education the center offers, Fagerstone said the most important thing he learned is to have confidence in himself.

“Growing up, I never thought I could really do it. I never felt like I really amounted to anything growing up, so coming made me feel like, ‘wow, there’s a lot I can do.’”

The center’s programs have and continue to make an impact on students who attend them, and have made education possible for so many. When participating in student outreach, Hampton said that many do not understand what the Adult Learning Center is.

“They hear adult education, and they just automatically think college. They don’t realize that there’s this whole space that kinda fills in that gap between,” said Hampton. 

Outreach and awareness of the center’s many resources for students is important for enrollment and allows the center to reach more students in need of educational assistance. Hampton said the instructors are the biggest cheerleaders for students going through the program. Some of the students they are most proud of are not just ones that graduate but the ones that come back even with all of the struggles and hardships of life, said Hampton.

“One of the biggest celebrations for the whole center is not necessarily when somebody gets their equivalency but when they’ve been gone for a while and they come back…Anytime we see a familiar face come through the door they’re welcome with open arms. It just makes our day.”