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On Monday, September 29, 2025, the
Lincoln Economic Advancement and Development and Heartland Community
College hosted a graduation ceremony for the first set of students
to complete the Everyday Professional Skills Workshops. The event
was held in the community room at Hope of Fifth in Lincoln.
Nine adult students were presented
with their certificates of completion for the program.
Those graduates included (pictured with Dr. Mellissa Valen and Chris
Downing):
Scarlett Beckerson
Lynda Benedict
Ruth Kruener
Kristin Nicole Ratcliffe
Kaitlyn Reason
Brianna Ross
Michelle Ross
Douglas Stribling
Sean Tourville
The Everyday Professional Skills
workshops are a partnership between L.E.A.D. and HCC with support
from Community Action Partnership of Central Illinois.
After graduation Runge explained
the concept and how the program came to be. She noted that L.E.A.D.
and HCC had come up with a plan to offer similar workshops to
employers, who would in turn designate staff that would be part of
the program. The original goal had been to conduct training with all
students being employees of the same company. However, that plan
also included staff taking the training during normal working hours
and prospective employers, for the most part, did not feel they
could afford to have their staff members in training during working
hours. Therefore L.E.A.D. and HCC took a pivot and redesigned the
program.
Runge explained, “This program represented a pivot from a L.E.A.D.
and Heartland Community College collaboration on the original
series, Essential Workplace Skills. L.E.A.D. attempted to offer the
program through employers to their employees at a reduced rate. The
registration rate of these offerings dwindled over time.
“L.E.A.D. and HCC conducted a
survey of businesses to determine how to increase the impact of the
program. We learned that many businesses couldn’t spare staff for
the training sessions during the workday. We knew that the workshop
information was excellent and beneficial in helping workers advance
within their careers. We began thinking through how to change the
offering to make the most impact.
Runge concluded, “We decided that offering the workshops for free to
individuals who were looking to upskill within their jobs was an
approach we hadn’t tried before and was worth exploration. We
started having this conversation with Dea Welsh from CAPCIL during a
Business Retention and Expansion meeting. What followed was months
of planning for implementing a program that was both accessible and
meaningful.”
With a plan outlined, the two organizations decided that the classes
would be small, focusing on fewer students for more careful
attention to the needs of the students. The first class enrollment
was eleven adult students. However, one student had to drop out
immediately due to scheduling conflicts. Ten remained, and of the
10, nine completed the course to receive their certificates.
Runge said that she was pleased with the 70 percent completion rate
and noted that it had been intense workshops. The group met three
hours an evening, two evenings a week for three weeks, resulting in
a total of 18 hours of class time.
The line of study included:
Elevating Your Reputation at Work
Communicating with Confidence
Decision-Making and Problem-Solving
Managing Stress and Building Resilience
Building Service Skills for Every Interaction
Relating Across Differences at Work
Instructors for the workshops were HCC staff Dr. Melissa Valen and
Julie Finchum.
Runge said that in addition to the prescribed lesson plan, when
talking with the enrolled students, it was discovered that there was
also a keen interest in learning how to write an effective and
efficient resume, so HCC did a quick pivot and provided a workshop
segment on resume writing.
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Runge said that earning the
certificate is an accomplishment that can be added to the
graduate’s resume’s and shows that they have dedicated time to
learning and understanding the “soft skills” that make for a
good employee.
On Monday evening, Runge served as
the Master of Ceremonies for the event. She began the evening
welcoming the guests who were mainly friends and family of the
graduates. She said that she was thrilled with the success of the
first workshop training and honored to have been a part of program.
She said she was very proud of each of the seven graduates and felt
that the weeks invested in the workshops would be some of the most
memorable moments of her career.
She also acknowledged the contributions of many others who were
involved in the program including Jennifer Kirby of HCC, Dea Welsh
of CAPCIL, Crystal and Christine in the HCC Continuing Education
department.
Runge also expressed appreciation for the community and the support
the program received when it reached out for donations to the career
closet, that provided gently used business wear for the graduates.
She recognized Nuthatch Hill BBQ, Guzzardo’s, and The Buttery for
their provision of food during the workshops, and First National
Bank of Tremont for providing the cake and punch for the Monday
night event.
Randy Washam was thanked for taking the student head shots and
Lincoln Printers for the preparation of the programs that were
handed out Monday evening.
Runge finally thanked the funders of the program, the Community
Services Block Grant at CAPCIL, the Woods Foundation, Heartland
Community College, and the Union Pacific Community Ties program.
When Runge had finished, graduate Sean Tourville was called on to
speak about his experiences in the workshop.
Tourville began by thanking the
funders, Hope of 5th, L.E.A.D. and all the other community partners
involved in the project. He said, “Your support makes this all the
more meaningful.”
He said that he had signed up for the workshops because he wanted to
build self-confidence, improve communication skills, and “figure out
how to navigate the next steps of my professional l8ife.”
Tourville said he discovered not just the skills, but a great group
of people who were interested in him and who challenged him to be
more.
The workshop concept that made the
best impression upon him was Communicating with Confidence. He said,
“learning how to express ideas clearly and with self-assurance has
already changed my interaction whether at an interview, meeting or
in simple conversation.”
He said that the segment on decision making and problem solving had
been very beneficial as well noting that those are skills he leans
on every day.
Another segment was about “Relating Across Differences at Work.” He
said that was a very important soft skill that really matters. He
said it was a lesson in how to respect different people with
different viewpoints, turning adversity into a strength not a
barrier.
Heartland Community College
Associate Vice President, Development and Community Engagement Chris
Downing came to the front. He shared a story of how that as a child
his bedroom was in the attic of his home. When his parents told him
good night and shut out the light he was frightened. Over time he
learned that he could gain assurance by calling out for his parents
and hearing them call back to him, signifying that even in his
darkest moments, he was not alone.
He told the graduating class to take that to heart and remember that
even when things are dark, they are not alone. There are people whom
they have met that will always be there to help them and assure them
that they will be all right.
Immediately following Downing, the
workshop instructors Dr. Melissa Valen and Julie Kirby presented the
certificates to the students.
The last person up was Hartland
Community College Lincoln Campus Director Jennifer Kirby. She
congratulated the students on their success and shared that each
student would be receiving a HCC scholarship for one three
credit-hour class in the spring 2026 semester which would begin in
January.
She thanked all those in attendance
and encouraged everyone to stay and enjoy cake and punch while
visiting with the graduates.
After the event, Runge was asked about future offerings of the
Everyday Professional Skills workshops. She said, “We are thrilled
with the results of this pilot program and would love to have
another class.
“The planning partners will be
meeting soon to evaluate the efficacy of the program, adjust things
accordingly, and begin the process of fund stacking to see if/when
we can have another class.
“We had many different graduates who expressed an interest in being
mentors for future classes, which is amazing!
“While I do not know the long-term plans for the program, those
interested can contact CAPCIL at 217/732-2159 to join a waiting list
for the next session.”
[Nila Smith]
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