John Jay turns two

With two years of operation already in the books, and this fall’s semester looking to be the biggest yet, the John Jay Center for Learning is continuing to grow.

Nearly 330 students have signed up for the 26 classes that will be taught in Jay County during the fall semester that starts Monday, by far the biggest enrollment thus far.

“When we first started we tried to offer classes through Ivy Tech, and we just couldn’t get students to go,” JJCL director Sam Shoemaker said. “But then we decided to have a ‘community college’ type atmosphere and start working on four credit hour classes. And once we did that everything turned around, and the rest is basically history.”

“It’s been a tremendous surprise,” JJCL board of directors president Doug Inman said of the center’s success. “We knew that it would make an impact in the community, but not this quickly. To go from zero students to how many we’ve touched in the last two years is beyond my expectations as a board member.”

Since the JJCL opened its doors two years ago, roughly 80 percent of the students have come from Jay County, with the other remainder coming from surrounding counties. Students have traveled from Geneva, Ridgeville, Winchester, Berne and Muncie to enroll in classes.

“Some (students) will drive all the way over here from Muncie,” Shoemaker said. “It surprised me that we didn’t have more students from Mercer and Blackford counties, but that they came from Adams and Randolph (counties).”

Bonnie Maitlin, who is a consultant for JJCL, notes that when the center started two years ago many of the students were only taking computer classes. Now, she says, students are taking a “full array of courses that suggests people are working towards something more long term.”

The 26 classes are taught in seven different buildings in Jay County — Jay County High School, Tyson Mexican Original, JJCL, Jay County Public Library, WorkOne, Jay County Hospital and Westlawn Elementary School in Dunkirk.

The board of directors has discussed the possibility of building a permanent campus facility to hold classes. While there are no definitive plans currently in the works, Inman says it’s something that the board has in mind for future expansion.

“We’ve recently conducted studies for a new permanent facility,” Inman said. “That’s just ongoing thought now that we either continue as we’ve done — offering classes throughout the county — or build a new campus.”

“I think we need to see a sustained ability,” Maitlin said. “We need to see that we’ll be here 10 years from now, and that our enrollment will continue to grow. There are a number of advantages of having a facility ... but there isn’t any hurry, so it’s something that can be done very thoughtfully.”

Shoemaker, Inman and Maitlin all agree that the JJCL is vital in educating the Jay County community, and hope that education helps to boost the local economy. Also, the JJCL’s partnership with Jay Schools, Indiana Wesleyan University and Ivy Tech have been important in providing funding, support and guidance during the development of the education center.

“They each bring something different,” Maitlin said. “And we need to continue to listen to people in the community to hear what they are looking for.”

“We really need to thank the businesses and industry and the citizens of Jay County for really supporting us,” Shoemaker said. “Economic development is education, and that’s what we’re trying to prove.”[[In-content Ad]]