Graduate Success Stories
& Atlanta Business Advisory Council member
More than 400 SACT graduates are now making their mark in the Wichita and Atlanta work force since the school opened its doors more than five years ago. A common theme resounds in each graduate story – the SACT has successfully combined computer training, confidence building and job placement activities for a total-person approach.
Emily Copelin
Atlanta SACT 2003
Copelin said she owes her job to the computer skills she gained – skills she didn’t have before. She said that at first she was skeptical of the school. With several grown daughters, Copelin’s hesitations were mostly about whether she was past “school age.”
“I felt I was too old for the class but my family told me I couldn’t quit. Probably because I had always told my daughters in high school they couldn’t quit,” said Copelin.
After a nine-year absence, Copelin returned to the workforce as a customer care and sales specialist for Marriott Reservations. “I can trace my job back to the SACT,” said Copelin. “It gave me the basics and allowed me the opportunity to further my career with computers.”
Nancy Dagastino
Atlanta SACT 2003
In the 1980s, Dagastino gained limited computer skills on what she calls “ancient machines.” She went on to gain experience in accounting, the restaurant industry and data entry. Even so, she found herself unemployed and drawing on public assistance.
“I heard about SACT through the county workforce office and because of my disability… I got a full grant to go back to school,” said Dagastino. “I thought: ‘Why sit around and do nothing when I can get an education and go somewhere?’”
Employed once again, Dagastino became a customer care and sales representative for Marriott Global Reservations, where she took inbound calls and booked hotel reservations.
“Life is a lot better professionally,” said Dagastino. “But mostly I learned not to let people put me down for my disability but to keep moving forward.”
Robert Hammer
Wichita SACT 2003
“Going through the SACT helped me get the job I now have,” said Hammer. “I use to work maintenance but because of my physical condition I needed a job where I could sit down.”
After graduation, Hammer became a consultant for DCSS Ability, a computer-consulting firm jointly owned by Houston-based Digital Consulting & Software Services, Inc., and CPRF.
“Life is better today from a physical standpoint,” said Hammer, who went on to pursue a bachelor’s degree in computers at Friends University.
Dorothea Hollis
Atlanta SACT 2004
Hollis says it was her experience with the SACT that prepared her for a job at Cingular Wireless as a payroll clerk.
“What helped me in getting that position was that the SACT gave me confidence in interviews,” said Hollis. “Now, I really enjoy my job and the people I work with. I enjoy working for my income instead of just waiting around for a paycheck each month.”
Adam Kiess
Wichita SACT 2003
Kiess graduated Wichita State University in 2002 with a degree in communications. While a student there, he interned for Intercom Communications and later moved on to radio and television. Besides typing up papers on the computer, Kiess didn’t use it for much else before attending the SACT.
“The SACT definitely gave me a better understanding of computers,” said Kiess, while working as a consultant for DCSS Ability doing research and data compiling through the Internet for a United States military project.
Though the SACT provided Kiess with certification as a Microsoft Office Specialist and valuable knowledge, it perhaps wasn’t the most important thing he acquired.
“Although my job now was mostly on-the-job training,” said Kiess, “the SACT gave me confidence.”
Shameka Meyer
Atlanta SACT 2004
“They were great at the school,” said Meyer, while working as an administrative assistant at All-Star Kids Academy in Georgia.
Before attending the SACT, Meyer’s computer skills were lacking. Though she knew basic programs, the SACT provided her with an in-depth education in Microsoft programs such as Word, Excel and Access.
“The school prepared me to take on the job I have now,” said Meyer. “I’ve greatly benefited from it because everything I do in my job I learned from the school.”
Meyer, who received a kidney transplant several years ago, recently lost that transplant and went back on dialysis. This could have caused complications with her new job, which originally included some physical activity.
“Even though they originally had a different position for me, I was able to keep a job because of what I learned at the school,” said Meyer. “I learned how to put out newsletters and how to type up fact sheets at the school.”
Loretta Pitts
Atlanta SACT 2005
Before the SACT, Pitts worked as a seasonal data transcriber with the Internal Revenue Service.
“Now that I have been certified a Microsoft Office Specialist, my chances of becoming permanent increase,” said Pitts, “because I now have the skills for the upper level positions in administration with the government.”
For Pitts, SACT was more than just gaining computer skills. Before attending the SACT she felt her life had no direction and was surprised with how little she was prepared for the workforce.
“I thought I had all the skills needed to find a job,” said Pitts. “But I was wrong.”
Many employers now conduct behavioral-based interviews to learn character traits critical to the job. This was something new for her.
“I didn’t know the different types of interviews, my resume was a joke, and I had no answer for ‘Tell me about yourself.’ Now when I go for a job interview I’m very prepared.”
Pitts also learned the importance of marketing herself to employers and gained the confidence to do so.
“I learned that change is okay, and just because you don’t get a job after one interview you don’t stop there. You keep selling yourself.”
Today Pitts also applies the skills she acquired for the workforce toward tasks in her personal life, such as developing chore charts for her children and using Excel to balance her checkbook and to budget her bills.
“Now that I have my (MOS) certification, I’m unstoppable,” she said. “I wish more people would attend the SACT because they really care about our success. I have two jobs to prove it.”
Christine Solter
Wichita SACT 2003
Solter discovered the SACT through the Ticket-to-Work program. After graduation, she became a research analyst contracted to Kansas Corporation Commission through Business Technology Career Opportunities, Inc.
As such, she was involved in a statewide documentation project to convert paper records to digital format. This was her first secure job. Since she was twelve she has worked inside or outside of the home, but due to repeated illness and hospital stays, she would lose her job. Solter admitted to being computer illiterate before attending the SACT. Not only did she acquire computer skills but she also gained belief in herself.
“SACT helped me make my resume and prepared me for interviews. They personalized it,” she said, adding that the road to graduation was not easy. Three times she failed a Microsoft certification test.
“They actually went out of their way to help me,” Solter said. “They kept saying they believed in me and knew I could pass this test.”
And she did. But with more than just a certificate and a smile — she graduated with confidence.
“It’s a very personal school. Because of that, I left with confidence in who I am,” Solter said. “I still drop in to see everyone once in a while. That’s how much I appreciate them.”
Michael Taylor
Wichita SACT 2000
When Taylor tells a student, "I know what you’re going through, but you can do this" he speaks from personal experience. A graduate of the SACT who is now an instructor at the school, Taylor has met each of his own challenges head on and works to help others to do the same.
"I want to give each student who comes through this school the same support and inspiration that was given to me."
Taylor, whose life was transformed by a disabling illness, applies what he’s learned to help others.
In December 1994, Taylor became sick and had to leave his job. A viral infection, known as vestibular neuronitis, had severely damaged a nerve in his brain, causing paralysis and severely affecting his vision.After 18 months of intense therapy, and without much hope from doctors that he would be able to walk again, Taylor regained his mobility. From the beginning, he was advised to apply for social security benefits, as reentering the job market didn’t appear to be a viable option. As a single parent of two young girls, Taylor was determined to prove them wrong.
"I never really believed that I wouldn’t walk again," recalls Taylor, "and I think that’s why I was able to come back, because I couldn’t accept it."
Before his illness, Taylor was a lab technician and spent much of his time outside the laboratory at sites across Kansas.
"It wasn’t the normal lab tech job – it was very physical," said Taylor. "My illness completely ruled out that kind of work."Using zoom text to assist him in class, Taylor exceeded even his own expectations, becoming the first student to acquire each globally recognized certification available through the SACT. He also began assisting as a part-time instructor. Only days away from graduation, he was asked to join the SACT team on a full-time basis.
Since graduation in June 2000, things have turned. The
SACT experience has given him "power to open the doors that lead to greater possibilities financially and socially as individuals and as a family unit. Things are getting better and better – it’s not all financial, but it sure helps."Being a SACT graduate has also made him a better instructor and he has learned a great deal from his students.
"Because of the special kinds of students I work with, I have insight that others may not have," said Taylor, who found a new perspective on the challenges both teachers and students face when he took his place at the front of the room.
"I was able to teach myself to believe I could do it and now, I have to teach others to believe in themselves, too. When people believe in themselves, they’ll succeed."