KAEA 2025

As a first-time instructor in Adult Education, Carl Silva recognized the transformative power of peer support and set out to establish a one-of-a-kind student organization tailored to the unique needs of adult learners. This initiative resulted in the creation of the Adult Continuing Education (ACE) student organization, a club designed to foster a supportive community where students can connect, collaborate, and thrive academically, personally, and professionally. This presentation will provide a comprehensive overview of the journey to creating ACE, detailing the step-by-step process and timeline of its development. Attendees will gain insight into the initial vision for the organization, the challenges encountered, and the strategies used to engage stakeholders and secure student buy-in. The presentation will also review ACE's mission, bylaws, and the guiding principles that shape its purpose. In addition, the session will highlight the methods used to market the organization to adult learners and the broader community, including outreach efforts, promotional materials, and communication strategies. Key yearly activities and future goals of the organization will be outlined to showcase how ACE fosters meaningful engagement and provides valuable student support. By sharing this process, we hope other programs can consider developing similar initiatives, empowering adult learners through community-building and mutual support.

This session will focus on the unique ways that Imagine Learning can support Adult Education programs by providing content, resources, and certified staff to accommodate each learner's unique needs. Examples include: GED Prep, TABE Prep, Math & ELA Acceleration and English Language Development.

Every year, Adult Education Directors are tasked with reviewing the KBOR Adult Education Policy Manual with their staff. As a first-time Director, I started exploring new and creative approaches to streamline this process. While I was reflecting on potential strategies, our newly hired Chief Information Officer stopped by my office and pitched me an intriguing idea - Why not gamify it? After a brief discussion, I handed him a copy of the manual, and trusted in his AI GENIUS to bring me back an idea or two. He delivered! This presentation will review the process by which we (largely he) used AI to generate an Adult Education Policy Manual Escape Room. A brief description of gamification and the benefits of game-based learning will be reviewed. Attendees will be given a copy of the Escape Room materials to take home. POLICY CHAMPIONS - GAME DESCRIPTION (as generated by AI): Teams are "Policy Champions" working to secure compliance and funding for their program by completing a series of challenges. The tasks reinforce the players understanding of the FY2025 Kansas Adult Education Policy Manual. Teams must solve four puzzles across different stations, each designed to reflect critical aspects of the manual. Success at all stations unlocks the "final funding code" and ensures their program's escape from noncompliance.

A device for electronic access to the Adult Education policy manual may be useful for quick searches.

Do you have those students in your program who just seem to disappear over time? Are you certain you are reaching all the students you can for your program? Creating systems in your programming can help you to engage ALL students for every step of the journey, so that you can stop losing students and gear up to attract even more! Learn about some creative strategies that you can start to implement TODAY to address these and other lingering questions you may have about your enrollment, engagement, and retention rates, regardless of your program size, budget, or staffing structure. .

In 2024, Seward County Community College was awarded the $500 Past Presidents' Special Projects Grant. The 'Stuff You Should Know' Workshops have provided unique opportunities for ELA students to invite their family and friends to attend informational workshops on topics that are not regularly taught during ELA instruction. This presentation will summarize SCCC's efforts this past year to implement 3 SYSK workshops. The topics included: Mental health, voting, and taxes. Information from follow-up interviews with participants will be presented as part of a full-circle review of how the workshops were implemented and lessons learned throughout the year.