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Our first Workforce Training Project course,
TekAdvantage 1, began in June 2003 and provides Patrick
County adults with instruction and certification in basic
computer skills and applications. This program provides
a way for Patrick County residents who are already working or are preparing
to re-enter the workforce to demonstrate to employers their
proficiency in basic computer use and popular software applications.
A growing number of prominent employers recognize this certification
in their hiring and promotions decisions.
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Our TekAdvantage program represents a collaboration
between the Patrick County Education Foundation, the Virginia
Foundation for Independent Colleges (the developer of the
TekAdvantage 1 certification program), and Patrick
Henry Community College in Martinsville, Virginia. The
Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges modeled the TekAdvantage
credential on their highly successful TekXam program which certifies
the technology proficiency of their member institutions’
graduates. Patrick Henry Community College provides instructors
and classroom facilities for the Foundation’s TekAdvantage program.
This program represents the first time that TekAdvantage courses
and exams have been offered through adult education classes to
all interested persons regardless of educational level.
In response to requests from many of our TekAdvantage 1
students, we now offer the 4-week TekAdvantage 2 as the next level of
basic computer training. While TekAdvantage 1 introduces students
to basic computer operation, the Internet and Microsoft Word® and Excel®,
TekAdvantage 2 takes them to the next level of competency with Excel®
and the Internet plus adds instruction in Microsoft
PowerPoint®.
The Foundation’s first Workforce Training program,
TekAdvantage 1 and its companion course, TekAdvantage 2, have been well-received
since the first course began in 2003. Since then, the Foundation has sponsored more than thirty TekAdvantage 1
and TekAdvantage 2 classes and certified over 680 County adults in basic computer use and applications.
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