With so much room to cover, cutting back on community education sites is just not an option for those at North Menominee County Community Schools.

“We try to go to them,” said Adult and Community Education Director Sheila Veraghen. “We are geographically very large. We cover two counties, so we have many small sites. We partner with a lot of different agencies to bring adult (education) to these very rural areas.”

The adult education program at North Menominee County Community Schools offers GED preparation and high school diploma courses. In addition, the staff runs a full-time alternative education program, and enrichment and recreation for three of the school districts within their consortium.

The adult education program, which opened in the early 1970s, is serving around 150 students this year, with usual enrollment numbers between 150 and 200. Proximity to the nearby reservation also has drawn Native Americans to their program.

Being such a large and rural county in the Upper Peninsula, North Menominee has had to overcome challenges others may have never faced.

“We are so rural that, in early 2000, we did not have the Internet. So as community schools, we bought the equipment and became an Internet service provider so that our students could access the Internet, and also our community,” Veraghen said. “We were the first Internet service provider in the area.”

As those in North Menominee County Community Schools search for more and more funding, Veraghen has proven that partnerships can be the most-important asset.

Their adult education program recently joined together with the local Michigan Works!, Iron Mountain- Kingsford Community Schools and the local community college to receive a No Worker Left Behind grant to help take their students to the next level.

“We are working with them to get their GED, but working simultaneously on that next step,” Veraghen said. “So they’re either dual enrolled in some programs (at the community college), or working with Michigan Works! on their employment skills. We have a career navigator working with students so a GED is not an endpoint, but a stepping stone.”

Veraghen said the grant has been very valuable in order to create pathways for the students and provide smooth transitions.

“The opportunity was always there, but our adult learner needs that extra support and this grant allowed us to provide that,” she said.

In the future, the adult education program looks forward to achieving an Open Entry/Open Exit program. Veraghen said she also hopes to partner with volunteer groups and getting extra help for the lower-level students and enhancing their progress with one-on-one help.

If you would like more information on the community education programs offered by North Menominee County Community Schools, please call (906) 497-5282.