Search | Menu The Good in Goodman South Campus
How this educational access point and vibrant community hub is helping to transform South Madison
Madison College student Hussein Alshammari came to the U.S. in March 2020, days before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the country.
But what kept him awake at night was how he would navigate life in America, as he struggled with a new language and culture.
Now, four years later, Alshammari is confident in his new life, thanks to the programming and resources he found within Madison College’s Goodman South Campus.
“Goodman South is small in space but very big in passion and vision,” says Alshammari, now a student support specialist for Madison College’s School of Academic Advancement, housed within Goodman South.
In just three years since opening, the $25 million Goodman South campus, funded largely by donors, has exceeded expectations. Thanks to the dedication of innovative faculty and staff, and the vibrant student community, the campus has attracted individuals of all ages and backgrounds. Original enrollment projections of 1,500 students have been surpassed, with individuals seeking programs in nursing, early childhood education, English as a Second Language (ESL) learning, General Educational Development / High School Equivalency Diploma (GED/HSED) programs, and early college credits through the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) Academy.
It’s the place where Alshammari learned English, and Jackie Leys returned to college to learn how to teach preschoolers about the environment. Every student weaves their influence into the Goodman South Campus community.
“We opened this campus in 2019 with a promise of access and transformation, and we are doing that each and every day with faculty, staff, and students who stand up, live out, and advance these values,” says Valentina Ahedo, vice president of Goodman South Madison Campus.
The Best Place for an Early Childhood Educator’s Training
Emily Pink, director of Early Childhood Education at Goodman South, energetically outlines all the new programming and possibilities coming for early childhood education students.
The list is vast: child care certification classes in Spanish, an early childhood educators group specifically for men to find support and networking in the usually female-dominated career, and a tuition-free training for child care providers.
Pink says the COVID-19 pandemic revealed concerning issues in the child care industry such as affordability, caregivers not being paid adequately, and the lack of trained staff. Today, there is a powerful collaboration underway at the local, state, and federal levels to strengthen the industry, and Pink is taking advantage of grant money to create innovative programs and pilot projects.
“I don’t want to stop saying yes, because I want us to get all we can get of these opportunities,” Pink says.
Madison College’s reputation as a training and learning center for early childhood educators attracted Jackie Leys. The University of Wisconsin-Madison environmental science graduate needed to up level her skills in teaching preschoolers.
A recent revelation for Leys was introducing STEM learning into the minds of her youngest students.
“Teaching them about science, technology, math and bringing these high-level concepts down to their level has been very practical and helpful,” Leys says of her online and in-person Goodman South campus training.
Leys expects to graduate this fall and is excited about a new preschool environmental class her employer has asked her to teach.
“Madison College’s Goodman South Campus is the best option for learning to be an early childhood educator,” Leys says. “I am amazed at the program and feel better equipped to teach preschool.”
New Child Care Facility Bolsters Community Impact
The biggest news, of course, is the announcement of Goodman South Campus’s new child care facility and student learning center. “This facility will bring together children, and the students learning to teach them, to the same location, and it will be transformational in addressing a critical need for the South Madison community,” Ahedo says.
Expected to open its doors in the 2025-26 academic year, it will increase space for early childhood education students and include a licensed child care facility serving over 100 children and families.
The importance of accessible child care to the success of parents, children, and the community cannot be overstated.
Student parents are among the most academically talented and yet, they are less likely to complete college. They are often forced to choose between their studies, work responsibilities, and their children — an impossible choice between their family’s present and its future.
Removing this barrier not only helps our student parents complete their credentials and obtain jobs with higher wages and expanded opportunities, it will transform generations and provide lasting impact to our communities. When parents access high-quality child care (shown to yield $4-$9 return for every dollar invested), their families have the potential to overcome systemic barriers to educational access and employment.
The City of Madison agreed to sell Madison College its Fire Station No. 6 property next to Goodman South for $1, eager to partner on the project that will create affordable and quality child care options and train the next generation of early childhood educators.
“I am very happy to support the expansion of the Goodman South Campus with a project that also helps address the critical community need for affordable child care,” said Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway in a recent joint press statement. “Between the housing, the child care, and the improved public facilities, we are making major strides in meeting the community priorities identified in the South Madison Plan.”
The project will get a boost from the $1.25 million Wisconsin Innovation Grant, collaborative funding from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) and the Department of Workforce Development (DWD).
“Students utilizing our child care services will have the critical support they need to persist through their varying educational programs,” Ahedo says. “As graduates, they will gain access to family-sustaining jobs throughout our community, helping to meet the demand of local businesses seeking highly skilled employees.”
From Surviving To Thriving
“Learning leads to thriving” says Hussein Alshammari, reflecting on his role of helping students get their Madison College I.D., guiding them through assessment tests, and answering the hundreds of questions they have.
Alshammari’s initial struggle has now become his strength, and students facing the same challenges he once did are benefiting from his skills and knowledge. Alshammari expertly guides them, as he’s taken advantage of the many opportunities offered at Goodman South. ESL class-check, HSED-check, tutoring- check, STEM classes-check.
The demand for Goodman South’s ESL classes has outpaced expectations as immigrants and asylum-seekers come for tuition-free language instruction, from beginners to advanced.
“When I came to Madison College, I started with intermediate classes and completed all the modules. Then I felt more comfortable going forward and reaching my goals,” Alshammari says.
Working part-time and taking classes at Goodman South, Alshammari aspires to be a web software developer and work in the college’s IT department.
In four short years, Goodman South Campus has touched almost every part of Alshammari’ s life in America.
“Personally, I love the South Campus more than Truax,” Alshammari says. “Why? It’s the cultural and ethnic diversity and the great opportunities to meet people and make friends from diverse backgrounds, countries, cultures, and customs. It’s opened my eyes to new things I did not think about before.”
