Life-saving measures and workplace safety can be added to the skill sets and resumes of a group of incarcerated individuals from Minnesota Correctional Facility (MCF)-Lino Lakes.

Minneapolis College provided two college courses this summer at MCF-Lino Lakes taught by certified instructors Keith Lindahl and Hugo Morales, which help prepare students for vocational training and work. The first college credit-bearing course was Responding to Emergencies Adult and Pediatric Frist Aid/ CPR/AED where twenty-six (26) students earned certification through the American Red Cross. The second course was Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA ). Eighteen (18) students earned their OSHA-30 certificate along with two college credits and the valuable safety skills taught in the course.

Ronald Thomas earned his Associate of Arts degree this summer after completing the OSHA-30 course and completing all other degree-related requirements. “What I learned from OSHA is its more than reaching quotas but inserting ideas of safety to finish the job and prepare for another day,” said Thomas.

Many of the students when asked about their experiences in these two summer courses mentioned the “practical value” it provided them to help obtain “real-world high-paying jobs.” They shared their appreciation that these elective courses could also count toward their liberal arts degree program and sets them up for success in the job market and with other important life skills in communication, social sciences, and business.

Minneapolis College aims to provide affordable pathways toward high-quality degrees, diplomas, and certificates for students to discover an education designed to take them to the places they want to go in life.

“These two industrial recognized certificate courses in First Aid/CPR/AED and OSHA-30 are perfect examples of the type of practical, hands-on, career technical education that benefits not just the students who complete them, but the communities they will be able to live, work and serve upon release,” said Randall Bergman, education director at MCF-Lino Lakes.

Ronald Thomas earned his Associate of Arts degree this summer.