“We’re here to do the work. We’re here to position ourselves to keep being a safe landing space for every adult in Dane County,” said Ezi Adesi, Omega School’s new executive director.
Adesi comes into Omega School as the new executive director after its merger with Literacy Network and retirement of long time leader Oscar Mireles. He comes with over a decade of experience in adult education and previous tenures at both Omega School and Literacy Network before the two merged — but Adesi didn’t always plan to work in adult education before his journey started.
Adesi was born and raised in Beloit. He obtained his bachelor’s studying sociology from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. In that time, he worked in early childhood education at a child care center while he attended school, but he always fashioned himself to find a role in leadership.
“I didn’t envision being a teacher per se, but the opportunity came and I met Oscar,” Adesi said. “I was fresh out of college, I was looking for that next thing. I was pretty excited about seeing what the professional life had to offer.”
He came to Omega School in 2008 where he served as an instructor. He remained in the position for a bit over five years before he moved over to the Literacy Network to serve as its director of adult basic education in 2013.
Omega School and Literacy Network are similar, which made the transition easy for Adesi, but he noticed that there were stark differences. Both were focused on adult education however with different starting points. He noted that Omega School students have the educational foundation necessary to obtain education and gain a GED. Literacy Network was centered on the building blocks in education. Students at Literacy Network need to build skills on the fundamentals of literacy skills, from decoding to learning and reading comprehension.
“I think actually it made sense in terms of the career direction. You’re serving a very similar population with different needs, (at) different stages of their educational journey,” Adesi said. “What I learned here at Omega as an instructor back in 2008 allowed me to learn the culture of adult education and what it means to work with students, what it means to be a support, what it means to walk with someone through their journey.”
The struggles and stories from students in both programs are what Adesi strongly resonated with. He came to understand the barriers they had to overcome were immense. They all had their own unique circumstances that they powered through — and Adesi was happy to work along with them.
He found that the most important thing was to connect with students. Adesi wanted to connect with everyone on an individual level to learn their struggles.
He wanted to learn the barriers and challenges they face to build a culture of trust and safety, so that when students walked into Omega School or Literacy Network, it was a place for them where they didn’t need to feel distracted. He wanted them to feel that they could focus solely on education.
“That right there is where it starts,” Adesi said. “Connecting with them and then that allows you to serve every need that they came for or the needs that they never got before.”
Adesi eventually left Literacy Network to work for the Wisconsin Department of Corrections at Fox Lake Correctional Institution in 2019. In that time, he worked as a cognitive behavioral intervention instruction and reentry case manager. Adesi worked with inmates to shift their mindsets so they could reenter the community and had the tools to find employment and avoid recidivism.
He remained in the position until he joined the Lincoln Academy, a public charter school in his hometown of Beloit, in 2021 as its first dean of students. Adesi was excited to continue in his path in education, but in a different mode. Despite his move out of adult education, he still took the skills he grew at Omega School and Literacy Network with him to attend to the needs of students and family.
The role, Adesi said, was high demand. Still he found joy in being a first point of contact for students to help them navigate challenges they faced. Adesi again moved jobs but pressed towards education where he became a director and advisor at Lakeland University.
Adesi found the experience at Lakeland University to be extremely different from his time working in adult education. While technically both are in the realm of educating adults, the outcomes were different.
“Working with students in higher education, they had a more clear idea of what they wanted. They were there just for that thing,” Adesi said. “Whereas working with students at Literacy Network or Omega, it was more effort and work helping them figure out what the next step is.”
Now back from his tour in corrections, high school and higher education, Adesi returned to Omega School and Literacy Network but it’s not quite the same. Omega School merged with Literacy Network on Jan. 1 this year to become the “Omega School of Literacy Network.”
Adesi is excited to be back. Omega School and Literacy Network held a special place in his heart that continued to influence his roles no matter where he went. He hopes to honor the legacy of Mireles’ 30-year tenure but wants to make his own unique footprint in the school’s history.
“Knowing that I have everything that it takes to fulfill the mission — being confident in myself and my abilities to connect with students, support staff, connect with partners, build relationships, foster those relationships — I’m coming with confidence,” Adesi said. “The mission will be accomplished. All the good things and the success that happened over the years will be sustained.”
Adesi plans to remain true to Omega School and Literacy Networks’ mission to create his own stake in both’s legacy. In his tenure as the new director, Adesi wants to help students figure out what comes next.
He wants to open more pathways into higher education. He aims to foster connections to help students at Omega School have opportunities to continue to succeed long after they leave.
