Goodwill and Penn Foster Partner to Offer High School Diploma Program

New Program Offers Youth and Dislocated Workers the Chance to Earn Accredited High School Diplomas at New Career Center

JOHNSTOWN, PA, September 28, 2016—Penn Foster, Inc., a for-purpose organization providing skills development training and credentials for today’s frontline workforce, announced a new partnership with Goodwill of the Southern Alleghenies, which operates the Goodwill Career Center focused on assisting youth, adults, and families to improve their skills and education, has selected Penn Foster to offer participants the opportunity to earn their regionally and nationally accredited high school diploma as part of the Career Center’s suite of employment and career services.

Goodwill’s Career Center, which is open to the public, is on-site at Goodwill’s Headquarters on Central Avenue in Johnstown. The Career Center helps individuals overcome barriers to achieve their fullest potential by providing them with guidance and services including job training, career development, education, and mentoring. Through its commitment to better serving the local community, the organization saw a need to offer a high school diploma program so job seekers could qualify for better employment opportunities.

“Our first Penn Foster candidate was a man who was out of school for 25 years, who had worked in a coal mine,” said Ann Torledsky, Vice President of Workforce Development at Goodwill. “When the coal mine closed, he had a lot of trouble finding a job. Penn Foster’s high school program provided a flexible option, where he could go at his own pace and actually sit and absorb the material. He now has a job with a prestressed and precast concrete manufacturer. If people come in and show to us that they’re dedicated, we enroll them with Penn Foster because this opportunity really gives people a second chance in the workforce.”

The Center has graduated 13 students from Penn Foster High School since beginning the program in January 2016. Students in the program can come in and receive academic support at the Center, and have the option to learn in the computer lab, at home, or on the go through Penn Foster’s mobile-first learning platform. Students also have access to goal-setting and progress tracking tools through Penn Foster’s student portal, for an interactive, personalized learning experience.

“It’s so important for organizations like Goodwill to offer their local community educational opportunities like this to help skill, upskill, and reskill today’s workforce,” said Dara Warn, Chief Outcomes Officer at Penn Foster. “Not only is Goodwill helping individuals realize their academic and career goals, but is also helping the local economy by filling jobs. It’s wonderful to be able to partner with another Pennsylvania-based organization dedicated to improving communities through workforce skills training.”

About Penn Foster
Students, employers and partner organizations rely on Penn Foster to build the skills and knowledge to power the 21st century workforce. For over 125 years, Penn Foster has been dedicated to helping people lead more meaningful and productive lives and to improving social outcomes through education. Penn Foster provides career pathways for opportunity youth and adult learners through diverse and affordable online diploma, certificate and degree programs, offered via its high school, career school and college. With more than 30,000 graduates each year, Penn Foster’s online and blended learning programs are delivered in a self-paced, competency-based model wrapped by comprehensive academic, professional and personal support and coaching. For more information, visit http://partners.pennfoster.edu/

Goodwill Industries of the Conemaugh Valley (GICV), Inc. is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization established in 1962 to empower individuals and families with employment barriers to achieve their fullest potential in the community through work services. Headquartered in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, GICV serves individuals with disabilities and disadvantages, dislocated workers, youth, and other job seekers throughout south central Pennsylvania in the counties of Bedford, Blair, Cambria, Huntingdon, Indiana, Somerset and a portion of Westmoreland by providing education and career services as well as job placement and postemployment supports. GICV is a community-based member organization of Goodwill Industries International, a 179-member network in the U.S., Canada, and 13 other countries. Learn more at www.gicv.org.