A-B Tech English Language Instructor and Professional Development Facilitator Kristin Erhard has been selected as the 2024 North Carolina State Advocate for Adult Education Fellow (SAAEF).
In her year-long role with the Coalition on Adult Basic Education (COABE), Erhard will receive training to advocate for adult education awareness and access at local, state, and national levels. She’ll collaborate with state and national leaders and fellow advocates nationwide to educate funders, the public, and stakeholders about the importance of adult education.
Erhard has taught Adult Basic Education and English language learners at A-B Tech for over eleven years. From 2020-2022 she served as a virtual English Language Fellow through a partnership between the US State Department and Georgetown University, where she created curricula for adult learners and taught undergraduate and graduate students in India, Mexico, and Panama. She applied to be a North Carolina state fellow this past December with the goal of helping to build adult education awareness and increase and secure funding for adult basic education and adult secondary education programs, which include literacy support, English as a Second Language; and skills and workforce development for underserved adults.
“Adult educators work to improve the economic opportunities of adult learners to support their families, yet adjunct instructors in most North Carolina Community Colleges currently earn unsustainable wages themselves,” Erhard said. “I’m excited to advocate for adult education with politicians to raise awareness on the impact we have on the lives of our students.”
COABE represents the system of 79, 000 adult educators in the United States. It has run the State Advocates for Adult Education since 2012, but North Carolina did not have a state fellow until 2023.
Learn more at abtech.edu/ELA.
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