Category Archives: Education/ Training/ Personal Development

Saratoga Springs-based SUNY Empire State College 1-Stop student services staff are now located under one roof at the newly renovated building at 111 West Ave.
“SUNY Empire’s statewide footprint requires the college to provide the same level of service to students in real time during normal business hours, online, by telephone and in person, at the college’s 34 locations across New York state,” said SUNY Empire State College Officer-in-Charge Mitchell Nesler. “SUNY Empire’s adult, nontraditional and part-time student population requires approaches distinct from the traditional campus-based model, which focuses on a younger, residential, full-time student population.”

Cecilia Aldarondo, a filmmaker and assistant professor of English at Skidmore College, has been named a 2019 Guggenheim Fellow.
The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation announced the prestigious award to 168 scholars, artists and writers Wednesday, April 10. The foundation said recipients are selected for “prior achievement and exceptional promise.”
“When applying for an honor as elusive as a Guggenheim Fellowship, I mostly had to close my eyes and hit ‘submit,’ and put all hope out of my mind,” Aldarondo said. “I am thrilled to have the support I need to continue two documentaries I am currently directing, one on the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, and the other exploring the keen anguish of adolescence.”

The application period for the Leadership Saratoga Class of 2019-20 is open.
The program is designed to orient and train persons who are interested in becoming more involved in their community in volunteer leadership capacities. In addition, participants will receive in-depth knowledge about some of the critical issues facing Saratoga County.
This will be the 36th class of this award-winning program.

The number of applicants for the incoming Class of 2023 at Skidmore College has climbed in each of the past four years. This year, Skidmore received 11,050 applications, the largest number in college history.
Applications have grown 31 percent over five years. Skidmore received applications from 50 states, Washington, D.C., five U.S. territories, and 141 foreign countries. New York, Massachusetts and California yielded the largest number of applications.
Officials said applications from domestic students of color also continue to grow, increasing from 20 percent to 34 percent of Skidmore’s applications over the past decade.

The Adirondack Trust Co. was honored at the third annual Financial Capability Innovation Awards presented by a leading technology innovator, EverFi Inc.

Presented at Nasdaq Marketsite in New York City, the award recognizes the company’s “significant efforts to improve the financial capability of local teenagers through unique online learning initiatives,” officials said in a new release.

Adirondack Trust has partnered with EverFi to bring the EverFi and Vault Financial Literacy Courses to local students at no cost to schools or taxpayers and has reached over 2,000 students since the 2014-2015 school year. The web-based program uses the latest in simulation and gaming technologies to bring complex financial concepts to life for today’s digital generation, officials said.

Charles V. Wait Jr., bank executive vice president, said the company “is honored to receive the Financial Capability Innovation Award from EverFi and Nasdaq. As a community bank, we feel it is important to encourage students in our local communities to learn about financial education and we are proud to be able to provide it through the EverFi program.”

He said he is committed to providing students with the skills and knowledge needed to successfully navigate the increasingly complex financial world.

“Each year, we travel to the birthplace of the American financial system to honor institutions that are truly dedicated to going above and beyond in service to their communities,” said Ray Martinez, EverFi President of Financial Education. “The Financial Capability Innovation Awards have given us the opportunity to share and celebrate the tremendous investment these institutions are making and continue to make in the communities where they live, work, and serve. For EverFi, our time here reminds us just how critical the role innovation continues to play in empowering Americans to pursue economic opportunity and achieve financial security for themselves, their families, and their community.”

By Maureen Werther

The Academy for Lifelong Learning (ALL)at SUNY Empire State College is celebrating its 25th year in existence. It continues to attract more members and expand its offerings each year.

Jeff Shinaman, who has been at the helm for the last four years, said that membership has doubled during his tenure.

“We have a growing aging population here in Saratoga. People who come here from other parts of the country are familiar with lifelong-learning institutions from other places where they’ve lived. So, they are excited when they see that it is available in their new home,” he said.

ALL is hosted and sponsored by SUNY Empire State College and is a nonprofit organization. It offers a non-academic credit curriculum that includes lectures, study groups and social opportunities focused on a diverse range of topics from healthy aging to the arts, religion, classic films and bird watching.

It has 430 active members who pay an annual membership fee to take advantage of the many study groups and social events on the calendar.

ALL offers a fall and spring term. Each is eight weeks in duration. There is also a kickoff luncheon held the week before classes start, giving members the opportunity to meet.

Katherine Hagen is the executive director of Huntington Learning Center.

©2016 Saratoga Photographer.com

By Jill Nagy

Huntington Learning Center in Clifton Park offers individualized tutoring for young people trying to catch up, attempting to get a leg up on their peers, or looking for help preparing for college entrance exams or other standardized tests.

The center, a franchise of a national company, has been owned since 2014 by Randal and Katherine Hagen. Hagen is the executive director. Her husband, Randal, is part owner but not active in the business. The facility opened under other ownership in 2008.

The tutoring facility serves children in grades K-12, and a few adults working toward high school equivalency certificates. There are three tracks: academic skills, exam preparation and subject matter tutoring.

The first track concentrates on reading, math, writing and study skills for grades K-12. The students are trying to get caught up or, in some cases, get ahead and move into an accelerated track in school, she said.

Exam preparation provides one-on-one instruction for students preparing for college entrance examinations, military placement tests, the high school equivalency (TASC) exam, and Common Core exams. It is a Common Core-aligned center, she said, with a curriculum that tracks Common Core standards. Time is also devoted to test-taking strategies and techniques to minimize test anxiety and stress.