Paxen Learning
Paxen Learning is an educational services company headquartered in Melbourne, Fla., with offices in Tallahassee, Fla., and Maui, Hawaii. The private, for-profit corporation specializes in accelerated education, training, and curriculum for at-risk youth and adults. Paxen’s publishing division produces customized curricula for the company’s numerous programs.
Paxen’s clients and partners include the Department of Defense, Department of Juvenile Justice, Home Builders Institute, National Guard Bureau, the Florida and Hawaii National Guards, state Departments of Labor, and local Workforce Investment Boards.
History
Paxen’s roots date to 1980 with the founding of ProSync, Inc., a company that specialized in customized training and performance contracting. In 1987, Inc. Magazine named ProSync, Inc., to its list of the nation’s 500 fastest-growing small businesses.
In time, corporate management increasingly focused its efforts in developing innovative employment and training programs, leading to the sale of ProSync and the formation of Paxen. The company’s business steadily grew as demand increased for services to at-risk youth and adults. In 2006, a group led by Herb Hilderley, Doug Merlin, and Richard Parkinson purchased Paxen. In 2008, the company, in an attempt to better articulate its full-scale presence in education, rebranded itself as Paxen Learning.
Services
Paxen provides three core services: skills instruction, staff training and delivery, and curriculum publishing. These services are offered collectively, in combination, or as stand-alones, depending on market demands and client needs. All three are available in face-to-face and online formats.
Currently, Paxen operates 25 programs in 10 states. Its geographic span ranges from Florida to Hawaii. Paxen’s clients and partners include the American Hotel and Lodging Association, Blackboard, Department of Defense, Department of Juvenile Justice, Indiana University High School, Home Builders Institute, National Guard Bureau, The Florida and Hawaii National Guards, state Departments of Labor, and local Workforce Investment Boards.
Programs
Paxen offers a variety of programs in the areas of academic, life, and job skills, all of which operate using the pedagogical principle of Response to Intervention. Many of Paxen’s early programs—which continue to this day—catered to at-risk youths. Programs such as Jump Start provide a foundation for early adolescents by building skills and self-esteem through a practical approach that emphasizes real-world learning. Similarly, students in Community All-Stars learn lasting life and job skills through planning, structuring, and conducting community service projects.
Older adolescents and young adults practice and perfect life, work readiness, job search, and interpersonal skills in About Face! Adult programs such as Forward March! help students develop meaningful life and career skills—ranging from computer literacy to critical thinking—that enable them to define areas of interest and stand out amidst an increasingly competitive job market. Paxen’s most recent and perhaps its most revolutionary programs, GED Plus® and GED Xcelerator, help students prepare for the GED Tests in a fraction of the time—and at a much greater success rate—than that of other programs. As of late 2008, nine out of every 10 students who prepared for the GED Tests in a Paxen-led program passed them.
Publishing
Paxen Learning counts a library of more than 40 titles in the areas of behavioral modification and [...] prevention, academic preparedness, career exploration, employment training, and workplace success. In 2009, it will launch an online bookstore, providing for direct-to-consumer purchases. In March 2009, Paxen Publishing released a new 10-book GED test-preparation series under its GED Xcelerator banner. The series, which includes books in the functional areas of Reading, Writing, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies, emphasizes skill acquisition and development as keys to success on the GED Tests.
Earlier, in September 2008, Paxen Publishing launched a fitness education web site, Fundamentally Fit, aimed at reducing the incidence of childhood obesity in Florida. The site features customized, standards-based lesson plans for educators as well as healthy meal plans for parents. Paxen Learning hopes to secure sponsors for Fundamentally Fit, in the hopes of keeping it as an open-source site.