CAN program offers opportunity for an education

One in four adults over the age of 25 in the Texas Panhandle has no high school diploma.

Addressing that alarming statistic from the US Census Bureau has become a priority at Clarendon College, which has launched the Cooperative Access Network (CAN) to coordinate resources and help people to help themselves.

“Our goal is for an individual seeking a GED to use the network to help them from start to finish,” Tex Buckhaults, Dean of Students, said.

“We will work to provide them with materials to prepare for the exam, find transportation to and from the exam, find a mentor for support, find child care during the exam, and then help them after with the next step,” Buckhaults said.

Without a GED or high school diploma, residents have no access to the higher education and skills training necessary to maintain a quality workforce.

“Clarendon College is partnering with the communities in our service area to share and provide resources and reinforce the common goal of increasing educational attainment,” Buckhaults said.

This network is a pooling of resources between Clarendon College, Region 16 ESC, community churches, city governments, county governments, businesses, libraries, and other civic organizations.

“We have received funding from Clarendon Lions Club that we used to purchase training textbooks for the people of Clarendon and Donley County,” Buckhaults said.

“We have also found resources already in place in our community to provide transportation and child care for individuals in order to enable them to better attain their GED,” he said.

The training textbooks and information packets on how to attain a GED are now available for those interested at the Burton Memorial Library and at Clarendon College.

If you, your organization, or your business would like to support the CAN, or you know someone who might benefit from the CAN, please contact Ashlee Estlack at 806-874-4808.