PVCC Career Coach Rebecca Payton awarded VAACE teacher of the year award
On Dec. 2, 2020, PVCC Career Coach Rebecca Payton was awarded the Virginia Association for Adult and Continuing Education (VAACE ) teacher of the year award, another benchmark in a long and successful career. The VAACE teacher of the year award is given to only one adult education teacher from a pool of educators from all across Virginia. According to Payton, “A career coach is someone who helps people determine a career path that is a good match to them by using interest inventories and personality assessments. The coach will also help them map out a plan to reach their career goal.”
Prior to winning the award, Payton worked as a career coach for 13 years. For the first three years of her career, Payton served as a career coach with the Jobs for West Virginia Graduates program at PikeView high school in Princeton, West Virginia. “I was called a job specialist and I worked with at risk youth. I assisted students with staying in school and creating a plan after graduation… I was with the JWVG program for 3 years until funding was cut,” said Payton.
For the next 10 years, Payton worked at the Mercer County Academy of Adult Learning as a member of the Strategic Planning with Occupational Knowledge for Employment Success program. Then, she and her husband moved to Charlottesville to be closer to their daughter. Through a series of job applications and transfers, Payton was transferred to the Thomas Jefferson Adult & Career Education (TJACE) center at PVCC. “My years of experience in adult education in West Virginia combined with my experience as a career coach made a great fit for TJACE,” said Payton.
For Payton, the best part of her job is helping her students to succeed. “I love working with individuals who are goal oriented and have a passion to work towards those goals. Sometimes I can help them discover their passion and that is exciting” said Payton. “The people who are most successful in their careers are very self-aware of their strengths and weaknesses… I encourage all my students to use self-reflection to become self-aware of their gifts and talents and how to best use them.”
Payton’s long tenure as a career coach has had a substantial effect on her view of the world. “Many of the individuals I have worked with are trying to better themselves so they can earn better pay to support themselves and their families. What I have become acutely aware of is that even the jobs that these individuals get after training are not jobs that provide self-sufficiency.” said Payton. “I have become aware of the systemic issues of income inequality. I look at a world that tells the individuals I work with to look at their wants vs. their needs and budget appropriately. However, I think this is a good lesson for those who are hoarding wealth in our country and globally and for the leaders who develop our economic policies. It is my hope that the essential workers of this pandemic can now be seen as the vital contributors to our communities that they are and will be compensated appropriately for their efforts.”
The TJACE program is dedicated to helping adults earn a high school diploma or GED, assisting speakers of other languages in improving their english language skills, and helping adults to find their ideal career path. You can find more information about TJACE at the PVCC website.
