Adult education center celebrates a milestone
Over 20 years in Taos, education and career center served nearly 3,700 students
When Heather LeDoux’s oldest son graduated from preK, he was so excited. There was the ceremony, the speeches, the “little cap and gown” — all the hallmarks of the rite of passage that can be as meaningful for a six-year-old as it is for someone getting their high school diploma.
LeDoux never got hers. “I left Taos High when I was about 15,” she said. “I must have just been young. I wasn’t too focused about what education meant for my future.”
Her son came home from his pre-K ceremony and “asked me when I was going to graduate.
“That just threw me into this question — how was I supposed to instill the value of an education to my kids when I didn’t have mine?” she said.
LeDoux enrolled in the Taos Education and Career Center. In the few years since then, she passed her tests, earned both a high school equivalency (the alternative to a traditional diploma) and an associate degree, and is starting at the University of New Mexico-Taos nursing program in the fall.
“Every first step in a different direction is scary. You feel like maybe you don’t have what it takes. When I took my first classes [at TECC], I was 27 and already had two kids.”
The people at TECC, especially director Judy Hofer, “felt like I had what it took to do whatever I wanted to do,” LeDoux said. “To be honest, I’m not sure I could have done it without their encouragement,” she said.
LeDoux’s story is just one of hundreds of adults from Taos and the area who over the last 20 years have graduated from TECC with their high school equivalency, formerly known as a GED certificate. The school not only helps people get their diploma, but also runs English-language classes for immigrants, hosts one-on-one tutoring and helps Taoseños “upskill” for their careers.
But TECC, armed with a “solid foundation” and “strong team” of people devoted to adult education, is at a threshold. Hofer is retiring at the end of July, capping off a 40-year career and 15 years as the leader of the school that invests special attention on each adult student and the journey that has led them back to school.
“I can’t think of a single field that impacts people’s lives as much as adult education,” Hofer said during a recent interview. “It’s saying, ‘I’m giving myself another chance.’ And it takes a tremendous amount of courage.”
“That traditional education didn’t work is not an indictment about who you are,” she said.
Hofer first got her start in the world of adult education in Massachusetts. She was leading one small class — all women — when the “value of adult education beyond academic skills” crystallized in her mind and heart.
They were sharing a little about themselves, and it quickly became clear that most of them were survivors of domestic violence.
“It’s the wellness of the whole person,” Hofer said. “If we’re not looking at that, how can we move forward?”
In the years that Hofer has been at the helm of the TECC, which has had several names over its two-decade existence, she’s brought that attention to the “whole person” of each student through a persistent focus on the social and emotional development of students.
TECC takes an approach to adult education designed to help people who are juggling the demands of family and work. Students can focus their requirements on a field they’re already in, or like LeDoux with nursing, on one they are making strides to enter. A person can even get a professional certificate — to become a solar installer, emergency medical technician or community health worker — while working on a high school equivalency diploma.
TECC also has English-language classes and special programs for migrant workers. “TECC really is a sanctuary for immigrants in our community,” she said.
TECC has received national attention for its innovative education models, and three times it’s been named the top-performing adult education program in New Mexico; TECC is now the lead program in a professional development initiative for all 23 adult education programs in the state.
The program hasn’t just happened upon its success, which includes routinely graduating nearly one-third of all graduates in the Taos area each spring. They’ve intentionally become as comprehensive as they are, all with an eye toward making real impacts in the lives of people already living and working in the community.
It’s a big responsibility, but Hofer is ready to pass it on to the next leader. She said a competitive hiring process through UNM-Taos will soon be underway.
Though Hofer points to the team of people who work in the Civic Plaza Drive office, the team and graduates laud Hofer for her role in getting the program to where it is, and getting students to where they are.
“Judy really facilitated the idea that I should continue going on,” said LeDoux. “I worked hard and made sure I turned in every single assignment, no matter what it was. I graduated from UNM-Taos in May. Every time I’ve reached a milestone, passed classes or finished another semester, I’ve gone to TECC, just to remember to thank them.
“I’m just so thankful we’ve had someone so passionate about adult education as Judy is,” she said. “It makes our community better.”