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  • MHCC Adult High School Diploma Program to Provide National Soft Skills Training Bootcamp

    Posted: 03/24/2017

    Testing services company Wonderlic, Inc., recently selected Mt. Hood Community College’s Adult High School Diploma (AHSD) program from a pool of 120 applicants for a Wonderlic Soft Skills Training Bootcamp Scholarship. MHCC was one of five recipients nationwide.

    MHCC AHSD received $23,680 in scholarship funds to launch the Soft Skills Training Bootcamp. The Bootcamp provides online and self-paced training with interactive learning experiences to improve soft skills in 10 areas: interpersonal skills, communication, listening and nonverbal communication, self-management, problem solving, initiative taking, professionalism, teamwork, cultural competency, and critical thinking. Wonderlic created Bootcamp from five years of research, and input from over 1,000 employers nationwide.

    Wonderlic’s Bootcamp encompasses 10 hours of interactive lessons, plus extension activities. Once students complete the modules, they take a final exam and earn digital badges that they can use to verify these competencies to prospective employers. Students will be pretested before training begins and tested afterwards to measure improvement.

    MHCC AHSD plans to launch Bootcamp during the Spring Term. The more than 160 students enrolled in the AHSD program can participate free of charge. Successful completion of Bootcamp will meet the career-related learning standards (CRLS) required for an Oregon diploma.

    Jenn Edgar, high school services coordinator at MHCC, said that many employers have expressed a strong need for these types of soft skills in job applicants.

    “So many of our students lack some or all of the ten major soft skills that employers desire,” said Edgar. “One way we can help close that skills gap is by offering our students the Wonderlic Bootcamp and better preparing them to gain meaningful employment.”

    MHCC’s AHSD program helps people who are at least 16 years old or no longer qualify to take classes at a public high school. The majority of AHSD students are between 26 and 40 years old. Learn more about the AHSD program at mhcc.edu/HSDiploma/.