Stacking up

What: The Business Council of New York State honored the State University of New York (SUNY) system with a New York State Workforce Innovation Award for the college system’s microcredential programs.

Details: SUNY Adirondack offers 10 microcredentials — series of courses that lead to certification of a skill set — including:

• Adobe Illustrator Basics

• Adobe InDesign Basics

• Adobe Photoshop Basics

• Intermediate Spanish for Global Communications

• NYS Coaching Certification

• Rock Climbing Certification

• Ski Instruction Level I Certification

• Ski Instruction Level I EnhancedCertification

• Snowboarding Instruction

Level I Certification

• Snowboarding Instruction

Level I Enhanced Certification

Visit www.sunyacc.edu/ academics/microcredentials.

Job Prep

WHAT: SUNY Adirondack offers Workforce Readiness Academies Program (WRAP) to serve unemployed and underemployed residents of New York.

DETAILS: Funded through a New York State and Federal Department of Labor grant, the partnership provides instruction in Front End Web Development, Python for Data Analytics, Sterile Processing Technician and Electrical Maintenance Technician Bootcamp.

When a flier landed a little crooked at a Schuylerville Central School cheerleading practice, her elbow crushed the nose of a teammate. Blood gushed, as it so often does with nose injuries, but Charlene Becker didn’t panic.

“I was naturally kind of calm,” said Becker, the team’s coach, who earned New York State Coaching Certification through SUNY Adirondack’s microcredentials program.

“It was pretty rough, there was a ton of blood, but I stayed calm, got ice on her right away and got the bleeding to stop. She didn’t even have black eyes,” Becker said, with just a hint of pride.

After graduating from SUNY Adirondack and SUNY Plattsburgh’s branch campus at SUNY Adirondack, Becker dove into work at Aflac. A friend was hired as Schuylerville High School’s head cheering coach, and she asked Becker to be her assistant. After a year and a half, the friend had to step down, so Becker took on the head coach role.

“Being able to coach, to continue that passion and develop athletes, to help them succeed, that’s something I really love to do,” Becker said.

She took athletic training courses at SUNY Adirondack, learning to analyze and tape injuries (she said she has taped countless ankles in her coaching career), and handle an emergency.

She heads into her seventh year coaching with a 2022 Sectionals victory and an appearance at States under her skirt. But mostly she’s proud of life lessons learned.

“I think it’s important they’re a student first, athlete second, so they’re focusing on academics,” she said. “I want them to develop these skills in their high school careers because this is a precursor for life, they’re learning life skills.”

SUNY Adirondack’s WRAP includes customized support services based on participant need, such as career coaching, academic advising, job-search skills, and accessing resources such as emergency child care and technology support.