We've seen the memes on Facebook that show us how hard "adulting" is. For those who struggle with anxiety, depression, or both it can be even harder. Therefore, how do we in adult basic education make it easier for these individuals to receive our services that are fighting these chronic problems?
At Kirkwood High School Completion programs we're teaching our students how to define those barriers and move forward with their lives. At our largest population center of students without a high school diploma, our information sessions occur about four times per month. This introduces students to the Mt. Everest view of our programs and if they choose, they can sign up for the next step immediately following that session.
We've implemented a Pathways to Success course for students to really focus on some goal setting and building a cohort that can hold their peers accountable for "soft-skills" such as attendance and punctuality. This course meets about two hours two days per week for two weeks. Once a student has attended all four sessions of Pathways to Success he/she is finally able to work toward their high school credential.
We offer two paths to getting a high school diploma. One path is our Kirkwood Adult High School Diploma, while the other is the state of Iowa's equivalency diploma known has the HSED. Students don't choose which program is right for them until after their four sessions of Pathways to Success.
By implementing Pathways to Success our persistence rate is up from last year to this year. Our current enrollment for students that meet the federal (12+ hours) enrollment requirement is up from last year and the number that have stuck around to take a post test is also up significantly from last year.
Students that we typically see in our program are those who have spent the majority of their lives living in crisis mode and need someone to help them see that there are supports in place to help them. By taking the Pathways to Success course to lead off their journey into our program, it helps to keep them moving forward.
If you have anxiety, depression, or both the medical community attributes it to a mixture of biological factors and environmental factors. One of those environmental factors could be that the traditional school environment didn't work for a student. He/she then decided that working would be a better solution and life spirals and spirals and then all of a sudden the person is in their mid-twenties without a high school diploma and he/she gets laid off from his/her job. Or worse, a person walked away from school at 17 and he/she is now 55 and gets laid off from his/her job and needs a high school diploma to find a new one. These are environmental factors that contribute to having depression. Couple the depression with having no idea how one will be able to provide for his/her family and then you have anxiety with the depression.
As educators of adult learners it is our job to put the tools in students' hands to help them cope with the barriers life throws at us. It's to show our students that when "adulting" is becoming too hard that there are resources that are available.
How do you help your students who are fighting anxiety, depression, or both?
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