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Our Vision

The Sierra County Schools for Adults (SCSA) is dedicated to supporting the District’s vision that all participants can succeed, by meeting every adult learner where they are in their life’s journey and assisting them with attaining their goals of higher learning and employability skills.

Get to Know Our Team

At the core of any educational program is the team behind it. Here at Sierra County Schools for Adults, we do everything within our power to ensure a welcoming environment and are excited to be a part of your journey. This starts with introducing our team and welcoming you into our community. Head over to our registration page if you are ready to get started with our courses!

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Wendy Jackson

Director and Principal

Wendy Jackson’s love of adult education stems from her own experience at Washoe High School – the first alternative educational program in Washoe County. Outside of work, she keeps busy with her sustainable farm and enjoys spending time with her two successful children and four beautiful grandchildren. She received her bachelor’s degree from UC Davis and master’s degree from Sierra Nevada College. The founding of Sierra County Schools for Adults in January 2019 has been the highlight of Wendy’s 20-year educational career. As a life-long learner herself, she believes everyone deserves access to a supportive education.

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Corina Tidwell

Lead EMS Instructor Program Coordinator

Corina Tidwell spent her childhood in Grass Valley and graduated from Loyalton High School in 1998. Corina has called Loyalton home for decades with her husband and five of their seven children. She began her career in emergency medical services with 8 years in the Air National Guard and received her EMT-basic certification in 2000. She stayed in the field as a paramedic for 18 years and later fell in love with teaching. Corina is now AHA certified to teach CPR, ACLS, and PALS, and was certified by Nor-Cal EMS to teach all levels of EMT. Her passion centers around training the next generation of confident, highly skilled EMS providers.

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Wendy Bergstrom

Office Administrator

Wendy was born in Loyalton, raised in Sattley, and is a long-time resident of Sierra Valley. After attending school in both Sierraville and Loyalton, she left the valley for a couple of years to enter the workforce. She returned to raise her two beautiful daughters and commuted to work in Reno for 29 years. She recently started with Sierra County Schools for Adults as an administrative assistant and is excited to spend more time in the valley and give back to the community. Wendy looks forward to helping students better themselves as professionals, parents, and community volunteers.

Amber Williams

Teacher GED/High School Diploma

My name is Amber Williams and I was born and raised in Reno, Nevada. I attended the University of Nevada, Reno after graduating from McQueen High School in 1996 to pursue a degree in Biology. I graduated in 2000 from UNR with my B.S. in Biology and a minor in Criminal Justice and Psychology. I have been happily married for 22 years (in May) and I have four wonderful boys (one who is now attending UNR as well and pursuing Wildlife Biology). Side note: I played rugby at UNR and now my son plays too!

I worked for years in pre-clinical pharmaceutical research and then decided to head back to school to pursue a Master’s Degree in Education. I graduated from UNR in 2015 with my Master’s in Education and began working in Doyle, CA. I taught there for five years and have been teaching here in Loyalton as a math teacher for the past 3 years. One of my favorite parts of teaching has been that I have been able to bring my boys right along with me and I have had the opportunity to teach each of them.

My favorite subjects are (and have always been) math and science, and I have very much enjoyed being able to spend every day teaching what I love! I am grateful that I get to share my knowledge and experience and be a part of the Adult Education program here in Loyalton!

Tegan Harrington

Lead Instructor EMT Basic Class

My name is Tegan Harrington and I will be the lead instructor for the upcoming EMT-Basic class this Fall. I grew up in the small town of Wasilla, Alaska where I spent my time hunting, fishing, and playing competitive ice hockey. After I graduated high school, I attended Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona and studied Biomedical Science to earn a degree in Bachelor of Science. After graduating from college, I jumped right into EMT school! Shortly after, my wife, Erin, and I moved our lives to Jacksonville Florida. We lived in Florida for a couple of years as I attended Paramedic school and worked in the local Emergency Department. Although I enjoyed my work, Jacksonville never quite felt like home to us so we kept an eye out for future opportunities. Fortunately, that is how I came in to contact with Frank Lang and the rest of the Downieville Fire Department. Erin and I moved out to Downieville in late March of 2023 and I started my position as Paramedic and EMS Operations Manager. We are small town people at heart, so we felt at home right away. We absolutely love living in Sierra County and feel so blessed to be residents here.

School Info

Seated at 4950 feet in California’s Sierra Nevada, Sierra County Schools for Adults (SCSA) provides adult education services to Sierra County, including five primary communities with highly diverse populations.

SCSA was founded in January 2019, and was initially accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) in April 2020.  The school is funded via the California Adult Education Program (CAEP) and the Federal Work Improvement Opportunity Act (WIOA), along with a number of grants.  The staff consists of a single full time position and several part-time positions that assist the school in performance of a variety of functions.

As a first step in the creation of a prospective Adult Education program, a series of town hall meetings were held from February through April of 2019 to assess community needs and gather input from a variety of community stakeholders.  The feedback provided in these meetings identified a range of community workforce development priorities for Sierra County, including a High School diploma or Equivalency program (commonly known as GED), writing and literacy courses, ESL resources, and employment-centered vocational training.  The primary need identified countywide was access to workforce training programs in a number of employment sectors, with the goal of providing a capable workforce to staff our local economy. Identified areas of need included Emergency Medical Service (EMS), Hospitality/Culinary, Early Childhood Education (ECE), among others.

One critical step in the school’s creation was securing a physical location. SCSA initially began serving students at the Sierra County Office of Education in a converted storage room.  Since then, SCSA has placed a new modular building on the Loyalton Middle School campus that includes an office space and a classroom furnished for the comfortable and equitable learning of adults.  SCSA is currently working with a number of partners to plan and fund the construction of an additional 36’ x 40’ building by the spring of 2022. This new structure will house both a culinary lab and an Emergency Medical Services lab, and will serve as SCSA’s primary career education facility.

Regional Info

Locations

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Our Mission

The SCSA mission is that every adult participant will be supported and encouraged in a safe and equitable learning environment, equipping them with the skills and tools to be successful in the current job market, by:

  1. Developing and strengthening adult basic skills to completion of a High School diploma or equivalent; using relevant skills to resolve real world problems that adults experience in their daily lives.
  2. Providing opportunities to obtain short and long term job skill certifications leading directly to new employment or advancement with their current employer.
  3. Partner with local and regional Workforce Accountability Boards to strengthen employment placement or advancement within current career.

Contact Us Today to Start Your Journey to Higher Learning!