When Scott Jenniges of Redwood Falls got laid off from his job, he did what many others do.
He went looking for something else.
That search led him to the Minnesota Workforce Center Office where he met with an individual who gave him an idea.
A new program was being offered in the community through which he could become a certified nursing assistant (CNA).
“When they asked me what I was interested in I told them I was thinking about nursing,” Jenniges said this past Tuesday.
That morning he and eight other students were practicing skills they had learned in a CNA class held in the basement of the Redwood County courthouse.
While one student lay in a donated hospital bed, another tested their skills in various tasks from changing bedding to helping the “patient” get out of bed and into a wheelchair.
The CNA course being offered through the Private Industry Council and the Southwest Adult Basic Edu-cation consortium utilized federal stimulus funding to coordinate the program and to bring Mary Neuman, an instructor at Minnesota West Community and Technical College to Redwood Falls to meet with the students and to teach them the basics of being a CNA.
The funds were made available to each workforce area this past summer, and according to Pat Thomas of the workforce center, the decision to do a CNA class was based on an unrealized need in the area.
“There are a lot of CNA openings in the area,” said Thomas. “Each region looked at what jobs needed to be filled and created a program based on that need.”
Thomas said the program was made available to potential students who had a defined need.
Over a six-week period, students met regularly to go over the book knowledge of being a CNA and then got busy practicing what they learned.
“They did a good job teaching us,” said Jenniges.
The students who made it through the course are having their skills assessed later this week at the Minnesota West college campus in Granite Falls, said Neuman.
Jenniges said he feels pretty confident the course has prepared him to pass.
“This is the first step in the career ladder for these students,” said Thomas, adding she knows many of them have already made plans to pursue further education toward earning an RN or LPN degree.
Thomas credited Julie Rath of the Redwood Area Development Corporation for getting the program hosted in Redwood Falls.
“She saw the opportunity and worked to get it there,” Thomas explained.
The goal of the program was to get unemployed or underemployed individuals meaningful employment in high demand jobs.
Thomas said the program was a success, adding there is the possibility of conducting the class again later this year.
For more information, contact the local workforce center.
