Jason Guard
Office: Suite 669, 3600 Centre
Phone: (804) 827-2635
Fax: (804) 828-7539
Email Jason
I first became involved in adult education by volunteering at local soup kitchens, substitute teaching, and coordinating community organizing efforts. In all of these contexts, I have witnessed first-hand how education helps individuals to develop a critical awareness of their world and empowers them to attain self-sufficiency.
In 2000, I began teaching GED test-taking strategies and career readiness to 16 and 17-year-olds in Richmond City and Henrico County's Individual Student Alternative Education Plan (ISAEP). Meanwhile, I also served as a part-time counselor with VALRC's statewide GED Helpline.
With the Race to GED as part of Virginia's Education for a Lifetime Initiative, the GED services at the VALRC have grown considerably. Summer 2004 saw my position expanded to full-time management of the statewide GED Helpline and facilitation of web-based instruction using the free online programs at LiteracyLink.org.
Currently, my focus is on expanding the capacity of the GED Helpline, increasing the potential of web-based distance learning, and marketing to Virginia's diverse communities. In order to better serve the Latino community, I have been slowly working toward fluency in Spanish by completing courses in conversational Spanish at VCU in addition vacations in Mexico, Argentina, and Venezuela.
I am currently taking night classes toward a Masters of Public Administration at VCU's L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs. I have a BA in English from Mary Washington College and serve on the Statewide Governing Board for the Virginia Organizing Project. I enjoy cooking, writing, martial arts, and civic engagement.