Teachers are often considered second parents to students, given their significant role in honing students’ values, skills, and knowledge. This belief has expanded quite a bit, particularly in nontraditional venues like bootcamps.
According to Lighthouse Labs Director of Education Delivery Nakia Myers, it takes a village to get through a bootcamp. Indeed, participating in a bootcamp is not a walk in the park. It requires a lot of commitment for students to get through. Canada-based tech bootcamp Lighthouse Labs is redefining what it means to be an educator, where the onus is not just on instructors but also on a support team that works from the ground up.
Meet the Team Behind Lighthouse Labs’ Success
Lighthouse Labs is recognized in the edtech space as one of the few schools that ensure you secure a tech career. The Bootcamp offers comprehensive programs in Web Development, Cyber Security, Data Science, and Data Analytics that continue to evolve to meet today’s demands. Thanks to that, graduates can kickstart and maintain tech careers in the long run.
Working behind the scenes to make this happen is a team of experts focused on meeting student needs. The Lighthouse Labs’ education delivery team consists of the following:
- Enrollment Coordinators
- Academic Accommodations and Accessibility Specialist
- Mentors, Instructors, and Educational Contractors
- Student Success Coordinators and Education Managers
Read on to get a complete picture of what they do and how they do it.
Admissions and Enrollment Teams
The Admissions and Enrollment Teams screen and welcome potential students from the get-go. Their main goal is to ensure that Lighthouse Labs is a perfect fit for the training and outcomes students seek. Students with the right mindset, attitude, and clear career goals will be better equipped to survive the intense learning experience of Bootcamp.
“Transparency is essential to us. We want [students] to be ready for what they’re getting into,” Myers says. Once students have enrolled, accommodations specialists, educators, student success coordinators, and education managers take over the following segments.
Academic Accommodations and Accessibility Specialist
Students arriving at Bootcamp often come with unique circumstances such as financial difficulties, limited tech knowledge, and experience or learning disabilities, to name a few. This is something that Lighthouse Labs is familiar with as it has hosted a diverse community of learners keen to start anew. Hence, the set up of “accommodations services”.
The responsibilities of the Academic Accommodations team, a new initiative at Lighthouse Labs, include getting to know students at a more personal level to resolve any problems that might hamper their learning process.
Based on that, the team develops an actionable plan. This could involve providing financial assistance or scholarships, adjusting assessments and schedules, or increasing one-on-one check-ins with mentors to ensure students’ well-being and performance remain on track.
“Last year, we had a deaf student who came to our program. We were able to make the accommodations necessary for her to complete the Bootcamp, and she did. Now she has a career!” Myers says.
Following this, the accommodations team hands over the responsibility to Student Success Coordinators, whose primary task is to further personalize students’ learning experience with any constraints in mind.
Myers points out that the team constantly works on personalizing the experience and ensuring they remain adaptable and agile. They collect feedback from students alongside other data and monitor program delivery. “If adjustments need to be made, then we do what is necessary.”
Lighthouse Labs champions its students by providing end-to-end support from assessment and enrollment to graduation and career launch.
Hit the ground running with LHL!Educators
In this segment, instructors deliver a tailored learning experience to students while honing their technical and soft skills. The instructors are highly experienced and have a deep knowledge of best practices and industry trends, which they bring to the classroom. Through them, students get a glimpse of what it’s like in the real world.
Lighthouse Labs is also a strong proponent of learning by doing, where exercises and projects are given throughout the program to strengthen their skillset. Students also undergo a career readiness program that teaches them basic and advanced soft skills. These range from resume and cover letter crafting and learning to identify ideal job opportunities to networking, interview methods, and acing job offer negotiations.
Instructors and mentors are always on the students’ side, so they never feel neglected. Learning and career coaching are adjusted according to their learning pace, interests, and career goals. Furthermore, alums have access to Lighthouse Labs’ lifetime support should they need further assistance as they move forward in their career. For instance, if they are vying for a higher position, they can always turn to Lighthouse Labs for additional reskilling courses, networking opportunities, or even to sharpen job-hunting skills.
Student Success Coordinators
Learning tech in a sprint can be highly stressful, which is why students are assigned to a go-to person, or Student Success Coordinator (SSC), from the beginning. The SSCs handle any issues, whether it’s a feeling of isolation, imposter syndrome, or simply to clarify topics.
You can think of them as “buddies” or “personal guides” of students in the Bootcamp. Students can reach out to their SSCs through the communication platform, Compass, which is exclusive to the Lighthouse Labs community.
The process begins via a virtual one-on-one between SSCs and students to identify their challenges, followed by an action plan. An instructor or a mentor is brought in if necessary during implementation. Although the Bootcamp strives to help students, they make it a point not to spoon-feed them. “We’re giving them real-world experience of learning how to work with others, accept feedback, and process information to derive a solution,” Myers explains.
Modernizing Learning with a Holistic Approach
“What we do differently at Lighthouse Labs is check on our students diligently. We recognize their successes and failures. We listen to our students and provide positive reinforcement. That said, it is vital we keep investing in our team to help our students the best way we can,” Myers says.
On the whole, enrolling in Lighthouse Labs means you are in good hands. You will have a supportive team you can count on at every stage and an ever-expanding community of learners and alums with learning experiences and career goals you can relate to.
All you must do is complete your deliverables, stay committed to the program, and trust the process. It also helps to be clear on your career goals and come in with a can-do attitude. If you can muster this, you are well on your way to joining thousands of Lighthouse Labs alums already in fulfilling tech careers.
Ready to hit the ground running with help from Lighthouse Labs’ supportive network? Apply to Lighthouse Labs now!
About us: Career Karma is a platform designed to help job seekers find, research, and connect with job training programs to advance their careers. Learn about the CK publication.
