COMMUNITY EDUCATION
PAGE 5
Metro North Adult Basic Education (ABE):
Paving the road to college and careers
Amy Plemel shares her journey to a health
care career and a better future for her family.
Community collaborations between local
colleges, workforce programs, counties, and
ABE make this support possible.
Metro North Adult Basic Education (ABE) student, Amy Plemel,
43, struggled through high school academically before she
dropped out over 26 years ago. It took going through the ABE
program three times before she was finally able to turn things
around, earning the Minnesota Standard Adult High School
Diploma and the title of Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) and
Home Health Care Aide.
Try, try again
In the eight years after Plemel dropped out of high school, she
enrolled in adult basic education twice without success. “I couldn’t get the math, it was just way too advanced for me,” Plemel
explained. Frustrated, she went ahead and took a semester of
classes at ARCC, anyway, and passed good grades - but ultimately couldn’t move on without her GED or high school diploma.
Picking herself and her family up
Plemel went on to have twin boys, one of whom was diagnosed with autism at age 10. After watching home health care
aides work with her autistic son at occupational therapy appointments each week, she developed an interest in the nursing and
health care field. “I saw how much they changed his life and how
important they were in his diagnosis,” Plemel says.
Shortly after, Plemel was faced with her own health challenges
in January 2014. As she met with doctors, nurses and people in
the health care field herself, her family and friends pointed out
some of the similar character traits that Plemel had in common
with her health care team – being caring, outgoing and sensitive
to the needs of others. Plemel began to entertain the idea of
going back to school again, this time to pursue health care.
“My family was struggling financially because I was sick and out
of work,” she said. “I set a goal; I wanted to go a year without
being sick and without being on a bunch of medications before going back to school, getting a job
and getting back on my feet,” she explained.
High-quality programs give students
sustainable opportunities
Plemel came back to Metro North ABE in April
2015 and enrolled in Health Care Pathways – a
collaborative program between Metro North ABE,
Anoka-Hennepin Technical College, ARCC and
the Anoka County Workforce Center. The program
gave her a jumpstart on pursuing a health care
career with specialized, hands-on training at The
Homestead Senior Living and Care Community in
Anoka.
Health Care Pathways is just one of the career
pathway programs available to students that want
to pursue a career that will place them in a field
with job openings and a sustainable wage. “We
regularly collaborate with local businesses and
organizations to ensure that the programming we
provide will prepare and train our students to
acquire the skills sought here – in our own neighborhoods and community,” explains Pat Adams,
Metro North ABE
manager. Other
pathways include
precision sheet
metal and
office/administrative technology
careers.
students find affordable child care, fix broken
computers or attain refurbished ones to complete
coursework, coordinate rides if the family vehicle
breaks down, assist students with special needs,
provide advocacy, additional coursework support,
career counseling and access to work experience
and internships,” Adams said.
Plemel attended a recruitment event coordinated by the Anoka County Workforce Center and
now serves a private family as a Home Health
Care Aide, and was just hired
as a substitute CNA at
Crestview Senior
Communities in Columbia
Heights. Between the two
jobs, Plemel is able to work
flexible hours while earning a
livable wage to support her
family. She hopes to one
day a