ELYRIA, Ohio — Ashlee Pollack loves caring for people.
“The last four years, I was a stay-at-home mom and really enjoyed it, but it was time to get back and do something for me, too,” Pollack said.
So she applied to Lorain County Community College’s LPN program — this year, a pilot project teaming up with University Hospitals in Elyria.
Tara Sostakowski, nursing operations manager at UH Elyria, said there is “just a huge nursing shortage, everybody needs more."
Sostakowski has been in nursing for nearly 40 years, and is grateful to see a program like LCCC's now exists to shore up their staffing.
Sixteen students are part of this initial launch.
“They get paid for all those hours, whether they are in school or on the floor working, doesn’t matter,” she explained.
This is part of LCCC’s Earn and Learn program, which got its start in microelectronics degrees.
“Because it was so successful, we’ve launched it into automation engineering, cyber security software development, data analytics, CNC — so manufacturing, IT, and now even healthcare,” said Courtney Tenohver, program developer at LCCC.
Students attend classes two days a week and work three days a week, making between $16 and $25 an hour.
It allows most students to graduate debt-free, with a year and a half of experience to put on their resumes, and with a job lined up at the end of graduation.
Ages range from 16 years old to people in their 60s looking for a career change.
The Earn and Learn program started about six years ago with just five students and has grown to about 150 students with more than 80 employers — and with the way the job market is right now, the demand just keeps getting higher and higher.
“We have more jobs open than we have students, so students are in demand and are able to pick what jobs fit best for them,” Tenohver said.
Trevor Zitek graduated high school and started at LCCC, not knowing exactly what he wanted to pursue. Through Earn and Learn, he got a job at contract manufacturer Vexos in Lagrange.
“Kinda took a leap in the dark and did not know what I was getting myself into, just knew it was a new field,” Zitek said.
That led to a full-time career as an SMT engineer directly after graduation — with plenty of room to grow.
Vexos general manager Brad Koury said working while learning makes for a seamless transition into the workforce.
“Basically the moment they graduate, they hit the ground running,” Koury said.
College is expensive enough. The workforce is tough to tap into, which is why programs like Earn and Learn are finding so much success.
