When Axis Health Care Staffing let her go, Phillips remembered how passionate the nurses she worked with were about their careers, and she decided to study to become one.
“They’re very compassionate. I really want to work with children,” said the Beavercreek mother.
Phillips is one of more than 800 students enrolled at Greene County’s only community college, the Clark State Greene Center. The enrollment numbers represent a 90 percent jump over last year, and the students range from high-schoolers earning college credits to displaced workers learning new skills.
School officials hope to draw more Greene and Montgomery county residents to attend classes in the building named for former U.S. Rep. Dave Hobson who helped secure state and federal funding for its construction.
David Devier, vice president of academic and student affairs, said Phillips is like many of the students who come to the new community college facility.
“The point of the whole thing is to train people for the kinds of jobs that are out there,” he said.
Like many students, Phillips will finish her first two years of core academic requirements and then transfer to another school. The college offers several “fail-safe” transfer programs so students can continue their studies across the highway at Wright State University without fearing the loss of college credits.
For Misty DeMay, a Fairborn High School graduate studying middle childhood development, the decision to attend the Greene Center was simple.
“It’s closer to home and cheaper than a lot of other colleges,” said DeMay, who plans to transfer to Wright State University or Cedarville University after receiving her two-year degree.
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