College Isn’t The Only Answer: What The VUSD Adult School Has to Offer. Part 1: Industrial and Business

Staff at the VUSD Adult School share what High School students can do if they think college isn’t the right fit for them. 

By: Beth Musto

For any High School student who isn’t ready to go to college or doesn’t know what they want to do, the VUSD (Visalia Unfied School District) Adult School has many programs to offer. 

The Adult school is located at 3110 E Houston Ave, Visaila CA, right next to Golden West High School.

Mono Peracca, who teaches the introduction to childcare, industrial maintenance pathway, and an English support for people in office skills, says that she does a lot at the Adult School.

“I would want them to know [graduating seniors] that it’s a great place to come where they can learn hands-on skills for not a lot of money and get out to the workforce quickly,” says Peracca. “If you go to a community college, of course, it’s not as expensive either, but all of our CTE [career technical education] are very short term and very affordable.”

High School students may have a hard time figuring out what they want to do after graduation. Or, they might have an idea, but can’t afford to go away to a four year college.

Day-to-day life at the Adult School is like a mini college. It can be different from every program, but it has a similar concept.

Peracca says, “So my classes [are] only a couple of days out of the week. When they come in, we do a whole class introduction, and then they do some independent work. Also, some online programs that we have [are] called Burlington English.”

Karla Cortes teaches the business classes at the school. She says that her class is mainly about learning how to type, clerical business and office assistance, and legal clerks.

Cortes says, “They all require a typing test. My go-to is to get them to either 30 words per minute or 50 words per minute. [Also] showing them all of the Google and Microsoft applications, almost kind of like a day-to-day life in a classroom.”

“I teach a lot of different classes, and they all have different times. When they come in [the students] they do their typing, and they get into the data entry. Microsoft applications: learning how to create graphs and excel sheets. And learning how to use all the different Google applications,” says Cortes.

Mitchel Tenhet is the lead welding instructor and CWI (Certified Welding Inspector). He says that his goal for the students is for them to get out into the world of the workforce quickly.

“My welding program is very fluid. I would say [it’s] loose structured. I try to tailor instruction to the individual student because welding is such a broad term.” Tenhet says, “You can take [the program] in multiple directions, and they don’t always overlap. So, it’s individually tailored.”

Tenhet also says, “It’s very different from college. In the college setting, they do a lot of the book work and science behind it. When you start out welding [here] you don’t need to know that, but going further into the career, then you can develop those skills while you’re working the job site.”

For most classes, it’s important to go over the rules and safety precautions for current classes. Just small safety precautions such as putting on goggles can be very important for the students.

“Well, it depends on where you’re at in your journey. In my general welding class, I have people who have been with me for a little over a year, and then I have brand new students. [For them] we start with the one-on-one basics like shop safety, stuff like that to get all the gitters out. Sparks and flames are going, so that does scare some people, but we do harp on the safety aspect of things heavily, and then as you progress through it, you get more comfortable, and then you’re learning different techniques and the fears step aside,” says Tenhet.

The adult school offers many different programs for students interested in various career paths.

Tyler Husdon, a teacher of electrical and programming classes, says that seniors who are about to graduate high school can get a basic understanding of general electrical circuitry, and from there, they get to go into more detailed programming methods, like making sure everything is automated in a warehouse.

“So they come in, they use the computers for a little bit to kind of get their general knowledge of all the curriculum and then we do a little review questions, some tests and then some hands on wiring and stuff like that,” Husdon says.

Husdon also says, “I say it’s a little quicker pace than college, but not as much information. It’s just a real basic, and just so they get them into the workforce and get them started.”

For students who are interested in learning and taking Google basics, Alison Walen teaches that program. She says that her class is once a week for a full semester.

Walen says, “So I teach a class showing people how all they need is a Gmail address, and they have access to all of the Google apps and they can learn work processing, spreadsheets, slide shows. I also teach a whole class period on how to build a free website.”

Walen also says that a day-to-day example inside her classroom is a place where students can learn all of the things Google has to offer. As of right now, the class meets every Tuesday evening, 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.

“A typical class as far as the way it’s structured, but a lot of fun because students in my class spend time playing, we call it soundbox time. They get to just play around and create different projects,” Walen says.

For anyone who is interested or has any questions, the school phone is (559) 730-7646, and the website is The VUSD Adult School

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