When the Jasper Adult Learning Centre opened its doors 35 years ago, it offered six classes over the course of the year. Fast forward to today and the centre is offering more than 50 classes, with some lasting as long as nine weeks, and it鈥檚 helping 600 learners a year.
The centre鈥檚 growth has been a steady process since its creation, but it accelerated significantly in the early 2000s and continues to do so today.
In the early years, when it was called the Further Education Council, the centre focused on agriculture and crafts鈥攖eaching participants how to preserve food and complete needlepoint projects. But as it expanded its services over time, its focus changed to more practical training, like life and employment skills.
鈥淲hen you look at our courses today, it鈥檚 totally flipped,鈥� said Ginette Marcoux, the centre鈥檚 long-standing executive director. 鈥淲e do very few craft courses or general interest courses; everything is much more employment focused.鈥�
Marcoux, who sat on the volunteer board in the mid to late 90s, started her position in 1999, just three years after the centre became a registered non-profit society. Prior to 1996, it had been administered by the Jasper School District.
According to Marcoux, the centre gained important autonomy when it became its own entity.
鈥淭hat was a significant turning point.
鈥淚t allowed us to go after new funding, and as a result new initiatives.鈥�
An example of that is the Alberta Works contract that the centre secured in 2010, expanding its offering to include career and employment services, as well as its training programs.
That combination of services is unique, and was recognized last spring as an innovative way to approach adult learning and job readiness, when CTV shot a series about the centre鈥檚 programs and services.
鈥淢y hope is that the government will recognize what a great combination of services those are,鈥� said Leslie Dolan, career and employment coordinator. 鈥淲hen people come in here they can access services right along the continuum. If they require literacy assistance or GED help or practical skills development or job readiness tools, we don鈥檛 have to push people out to other services.
鈥淚f they come in and say, 鈥業 need First Aid in order to get this job,鈥� we can say, 鈥楬ey, we鈥檙e offering First Aid, we can help you get that.鈥欌��
And that鈥檚 exactly what the centre wants to do: make it as easy as possible for people to gain the skills they need to enter the workforce, or to move up the food chain.
Before working for the centre, Dolan was a three-term chair of the volunteer board that runs it. She said that was a position that she adored.
鈥淲e鈥檇 chat about stuff and have big grandiose visions and ideas and then Ginette would just make it happen. That was very exciting.鈥�
Some of those ideas included branching out and bringing global issues to Jasper.
鈥淔or a long time that drove the work that the council did, which I think we were all really proud of,鈥� she said, noting that through those efforts, the centre brought to light issues like violence against women and girls around the world. 鈥淪ocial justice was really the flavour of the day,鈥� she said.
To bring light to those issues, in 2002, for the first time in Jasper鈥檚 history, the centre brought Eve Ensler鈥檚 Vagina Monologues to town. The play, which includes monologues from women around the world, caused quite the stir.
鈥淧eople were in shock,鈥� said Marcoux with a laugh. 鈥淧eople were shocked to see the word vagina on a public poster, and a lot of time was spent putting posters back up after they had been ripped down.鈥�
But that didn鈥檛 deter the centre. In fact, it only encouraged the board to go one step further.
In 2004, rather than bringing in a group of women to perform the play, it brought together local women, who enacted it themselves.
鈥淭here was teachers, nurses, women from all walks of life that were local,鈥� recalls Marcoux. 鈥淭hat made a difference. People came out to support鈥攁nd what a great opportunity to educate.鈥�
The play has appeared in Jasper once more since then, and with each rendition the reception has improved.
Dolan recalls those days as a time when the board was passionate about bursting the Jasper 鈥渂ubble鈥� and educating people about social justice issues around the world, as well as in town.
鈥淲e were bringing really important issues that were happening around the world and informing people in our bubble about what鈥檚 going on and how we are connected to that, and how we can effect change from here.
鈥淭hose were heady times in many ways,鈥� she said, noting that with each board change there is a change in priority and direction for the centre, so some of the events that were held 10 years ago are no longer on the radar today.
But, fortunately, some have carried on with different organizations.
For instance, Jasper鈥檚 first volunteer appreciation event was organized by the centre in 2001 to celebrate the Year of the Volunteer.
鈥淲e were kind of the head start before it was passed onto the municipality,鈥� which now hosts a Volunteer Appreciation Banquet each year in April, said Marcoux.
The centre has also been involved in launching some important initiatives, like the Share the Spirit program, which was created in 2011 by numerous organizations in town, including the Jasper Park Chamber of Commerce, Tourism Jasper, the municipality and Parks Canada.
鈥淭hat was a group of us looking out into the community, saying 鈥榳e really need a training program that鈥檚 specific to Jasper, that will benefit people that not only work in tourism, but give some [community members] skills to welcome the world to Jasper, whether it be a gardener or a senior in his yard.鈥欌��
In recent years, the centre has focused a lot of its attention on training people for the tourism industry, whether it be through the one-day Share the Spirit program or through its nine-week Targeted Initiative for Older Workers, or more recently its Tourism Essentials program.
Those longer courses were made possible when the centre signed a lease for the workspace upstairs鈥攚here Habitat for the Arts was formerly located.
鈥淭hat was a long dream,鈥� said Dolan, of having a workspace within the building. 鈥淲e used to fantasize about it. It was super exciting to actually get it.鈥�
鈥淎ll of a sudden there are so many more opportunities,鈥� said Marcoux. 鈥淭he future is full of possibilities.鈥�
One of those possibilities鈥攁nd a dream of Marcoux鈥檚鈥攊s a tourism and hospitality school right here in Jasper. It鈥檚 not something that will happen overnight, but it鈥檚 a dream for the future.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not impossible,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e already had discussions with the chamber, with key stakeholders in the community and there鈥檚 already a lot of support in the community for the idea.
鈥淚 love that vision and I would love to be a part of creating that.鈥�
In the meantime, the centre will continue offering tourism-focused programs to give Jasperites an opportunity to gain the skills they need to succeed in the local job market. And it will also continue to assess the needs of the community and tailor its programs to those needs.
For 2014, that means offering courses on financial literacy鈥攁 subject that has been identified as an issue across the country.
鈥淪o not only are we able to be responsive to local needs, because obviously locally developed services are going to be the most effective, but we鈥檝e got our thumb on the pulse of the gaps ... and we鈥檙e able to mobilize,鈥� said Dolan.
And that鈥檚 what鈥檚 so powerful about adult learning centres, said former board member Janice Yeaman.
鈥淚f you want to learn something, the adult learning centre is offering the opportunity鈥攆rom language courses to computer courses. They cover a wide range.鈥�
Nicole Veerman
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