Video from Digital Promise highlights Briya’s strengths
Briya’s Two-Generation Program is showcased in a video created by Digital Promise in partnership with the Barbara Bush Foundation.
The video highlights Briya’s unique model, which enables parents to gain knowledge and skills (from basic literacy to earning a high school diploma) at the same time that their young children prepare for future success through a high-quality early education.
In the video, Briya’s Executive Director, Christie McKay, names keys to Briya’s successful outcomes:
- Having a steady funding stream for adult education.
- Simultaneously viewing adult learners as parents, workers, and community members, and then creating systems that support their needs holistically
“Adult students face a lot of challenges that young people don’t face,” Erica Schuetz, an adult education instructor at Briya, states in the video. These needs include supporting their families financially, caring for their children, and navigating the transportation system.
“As educators and as a school, we try to address those challenges by … letting students know they’re wanted here, that we miss them when they don’t show up, and also by networking them with a lot of support services within Mary’s Center and within the school and within the community.”
Briya’s adult and early childhood students achieve some of the highest outcomes in the country thanks to the education and the network of support they receive at Briya.
“[Briya is] a very rewarding place to work, and I feel a really strong relationship with the students,” Schuetz says. “I feel really lucky to be able to work in a program like this.”
Watch the video below.