Local Video
|
| Online classes help students get ahead, ready for college |
By: JEFF WALD, Sports Editor
|
Posted: Friday, January 29, 2010 9:27 pm
|
 Email  Print
|
NORTHFIELD — Priscilla Perez wants to go into hotel and restaurant management. Mayra Gutierrez thought she wanted to go into law, but is now pursuing elementary education. Alicia Macias wants to combine psychology with advertising and marketing.
What do the three Northfield High School students all have in common? They’re all pursuing college through TORCH. The program, Tackling Obstacles and Raising College Hopes, offers post secondary education classes to minority high school students who might not otherwise have the chance to go to college. They are likely to be the first in their families to attend college.
The three take online classes up to three days a week through Riverland Community College in Austin. The college also has facilities in Austin and Albert Lea.
“We try go to give kids opportunities for higher education,” said Beth Berry, the program’s director. “We want to give them a chance to get to college and a chance to get through their first year.”
The program currently has 15 NHS students, a majority of whom are Latino. Statistically, 60 percent of that demographic doesn’t make it through their freshman year of college, said Berry, adding that the program’s goal is to decrease that figure.
It started a year ago, and this past fall, NHS offered three classes in the program. For the spring semester, there are as many as six. The classes are generals within the Minnesota Transfer Curriculum that allow minority students to enter college with credits already under their belt. They are credits that go on a college transcript and that a majority of schools accept.
Gutierrez said she likes the flexibility that the online courses offer.
“You get maybe two assignments a week. It really teaches responsibility,” Gutierrez said. “You can do it on your own time and take what you want.”
Among the classes she currently takes are biology, religions of the world and cultural anthropology.
Perez said she likes the fact that courses give her a chance to get ready for college.
“It’s the whole getting ahead thing,” Perez said. “That’s really a big part of it.”
One of the biggest challenges a high school student faces entering college is adjusting to the workload and the expectation of studying. Macias said this program provides support that most schools don’t have.
“We’re getting a taste of college academic standards and we’re getting support,” Macias said. “Other places don’t have that.”
Students can take the courses anywhere they can get access to a computer and Internet. Most do it at NHS, but some opt to go to Carleton College, which opens its facilities to NHS students with visitors passes. They also provide teaching assistants to give kids more one-on-one attention.
Lisa Gaetjens, a 2009 Carleton grad who now assists with the program at NHS, said the program is vital for college preparation.
“It’s incredibly important to get the study skills and that prep for college,” Gaetjens said.
Classes have between five and seven students, and kids can earn up to 18 college credits that will transfer over to the school of their choice.
“We really want to give kids from low-income families a better chance at higher education,” Berry said.
Online classes are also becoming more popular in college. At the University of Minnesota, 12,500 students took at least one online class in the 2008-09 year, a 10 percent increase from the previous year.
Gutierrez, Macias and Perez all said that the classes help with college acceptance as well, especially with the competitive academic student body at NHS.
Perez said she plans to attend the University of Wisconsin-Stout. Macias is headed to Cotty College in Missouri, and Gutierrez is deciding between the University of Minnesota-Morris, Augsburg College and St. Catherine University. The TORCH program at NHS is what helped let them believe that college was an option.
— Jeff Wald can be reached at jwald@northfieldnews.com. |
|
|
|
Story Comment Guidelines:
Registered members who identify themselves by name are authorized to automatically post comments to stories. Readers who wish to remain anonymous submit comments to a pending queue, where they will be reviewed for approval within 24 hours of their submission. To determine the author of a comment, click on the user name.
Those who identify themselves will be given broader boundaries to express their opinion. Only those anonymous comments that contribute to the conversation in a thoughtful, respectful, civil manner will be approved. The decision to approve or reject a comment is a subjective one and is ours alone. Authors of rejected comments will receive an email response.
If you would like to report abuse click here to notify us.
|
|
| Show Comments | Hide Comments
|
|
| Login and voice your opinion!
|
|
|
|
|
Top Jobs | Top Homes | Top Cars
09 Jetta
09 white Jetta asking $16,000
less than 48,000 miles
|
|
Digg
Del.icio.us
Facebook
MySpace
StumbleUpon
Google
Yahoo!
What is the residency status of these students? Legal or illegal?
What is the residency status of their parents? Criminal illegal aliens?
What is the cost? Who is paying for this?
Mr. Irish King, I assume you are Irish.
It wasn't that long ago that the Irish were subjected to the same kind of abuse you're heaping on the Hispanics now. Remember the signs "No dogs or Irish"? How about the stereotype of the drunken Irishman too intoxicated to provide for his fifteen kids?
Imagine if you were one of the children portrayed in this article and then read your remarks. Have you no empathy?
Well said, FLY
Irishking, your unhealthy fixation on ethnicity is both disturbing - and ironic.
It almost makes me ashamed of the Irish heritage that we (presumably) share.
A trip down Irishking's memory lane:
http://www.northfieldnews.com/news.php?viewStory=48229
http://www.northfieldnews.com/news.php?viewStory=47633
http://www.northfieldnews.com/news.php?viewStory=48338
wxmanvet, your comment was removed because it violates our standards. Please refrain from personal name-calling or attacks.
EditorJaci, I apologize (I hope nobody thinks I was cussing!); perhaps I should reframe my comment. It is my belief that anyone that questions the residency status of a person based on nothing other than the ethnicity indicated by their surname is guilty of acting in a bigoted manner. After all, there is nothing in this article that gives any indication that these girls are not full citizens of our country.
As the uncle of girls with hispanic surnames (Americans, by the way), it disgusts and concerns me that people that might do so live amongst us. As nearly all of us are descendents of immigrants, and in that assuming a person may be guilty of a crime based solely on their surname and absent of any actual proof flies in the face of the ideals of our nation(presumption of innocence follows from "nor shall any person...be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law" - 5th Amendment to the Constitution; and "nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law" - 14th Amendment to the Constitution), it might behoove us to return to our countries of ethnic origin if we are not willing to live up to (both in action and spirit) the ideals and laws of the United States of America.
And once again I'd like to thank Patrick_Enders for the links.
I also find the questions about immigration status a little mean-spirited. I'm glad these girls are working hard and trying to get a good education.