A Close Up With LCCC's Learning Specialists

Matthew Irizarry | Writer

Among the many resources offered by Lehigh Carbon Community College (LCCC), the school offers all students the opportunity to seek guidance from unique learning specialists. These specialists offer a pathway and direction to students who need the help and give them the skills and tools to become who they want to be. The learning specialists each have different focuses for the student population.

Michael Spinks focuses half of his time on CTE (Career Technical Education) students and half on students in other areas. Alex Nguyen focuses on early college and Dual enrollment students, and Jess Joseph focuses specifically on CTE, with the Nursing program being at her forefront. While each of them focuses on a different aspect, they all agreed that the goal is to help the students reach their full potential through various means.

“We help co-create plans with students and give them the skills and tools to build who they want to be,” said Michael Spinks.

To do this, they help students with time management, decision-making, test-taking skills, anxiety and much more. For example, when helping with test taking skills, Joseph teaches information retention skills, both recall and recognition, essentially helping the students pull information from memory and self-quiz.

So, what’s the toughest part about being a learning specialist? They all agreed it’s tough when people don't ask for help.

“When students don’t come in, we can’t help,” said Spinks.

Try to keep in mind what’s offered at LCCC; help is around the corner, and there are specialists to assist anyone willing to ask.