Highlights from the HACTC - Sep. 14

It has been a great start to the school year here at the HACTC. It’s been awesome to see students enthusiastically engaging in various types of learning over the past three weeks. Students have been learning about each other, learning about how the HACTC operates, and learning content in their program.

One of the ways we help students learn about the HACTC is through the culture and expectations visits that Assistant Director Mr. Farnsworth and I do. We visit with one class at a time to talk about some procedures and policies, but we also spend a good chunk of time talking about the mission at the HACTC. In this visit, we focus on two words from our mission statement, Respect and Grow.

Respect is the first word of our mission and is one of the main things we are focused on in these first few weeks. Respect is the cornerstone of everything that we do; if people are not feeling respect it is very hard to engage and to learn. We’ve been pleased to see the respect students are showing each other in class so far this year and look forward to this great atmosphere continuing all year.

The last word in our mission is Grow, and I want to share a story that Mr. Farnsworth shares with the students:

While I have a specific student in mind as I write this, it really could be any number of students that we’ve worked with over the years. I am continually astounded by the growth that students make during their time at the HACTC. It happens in many different ways - for some students the growth is about finding their confidence, for others they learn more about their strengths, others develop new friendships that help them grow, while others make enormous gains in their academic skills. I look forward to seeing the growth in our students this year.

-Erika Schneider

HACTC Director