State’s prisons
have started offering more postsecondary courses
Every week, they slide books through the metal detectors — novels by
Virginia Woolf and Jane Austen, copies of the U.S. Constitution, texts on
sociology, psychology and comparative religion. Then dozens of professors
and instructors from Washington’s public and private colleges surrender
their driver’s licenses and car keys to an armed guard, walk through the
detector themselves and pass through a perimeter fence topped by coils of
gleaming razor wire. They have come to teach some of the state’s most
unlikely college students: men and women serving time for felonies such as
rape, robbery and murder. ... Twelve professors from UPS, the
University of Washington, Seattle Pacific University, Tacoma Community College and
Harvard Extension School receive a stipend of $1,200 per semester to pay
for transportation to and from the prison. ... [Reid] Helford, the Walla Walla Community College adjunct
who teaches both GED and college-level classes at the state penitentiary,
said many inmates in his courses undergo a transformation.
Yakima Herald-Republic, Feb. 19, 2015
Stadium High
School students, staff embrace college classes taught on their campus
Writing one college-quality paper a week in a high school English class
might seem like a daunting task for many students. But a group of
Stadium High School students who’ve tackled that and similar tasks say the
challenge is worth it — especially when there’s college credit waiting at the
end of a demanding high school course. Through a pair of programs that
offer dual high school and college credit, hundreds of students at Stadium
are getting a taste of what university work will be like. ... After
Stadium, college classes have drawn the largest numbers at Tacoma’s School
of the Arts and the Science and Math Institute. More than 180 students are
enrolled at each school, according to the district. Classes at those two
schools are taught by SOTA and SAMI teachers who use curriculum from Tacoma Community College.
The News Tribune, Feb. 18, 2015
Education opportunity: Equal but unequal? Legislators
tackling student-achievement gap
Advocates for minority and low-income students are urging legislators to
take a closer look at the state’s McCleary obligation to ensure that all
students are given equal and ample opportunity to achieve in school. One
bill would require state agencies to assess the potential negative impacts
of education policies on minority and low-income students, and another
would require the state to take measures to closing the education
opportunity gap. ... The bill would require a range of state agencies
— from the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction to the State Board for Community and
Technical Colleges — to contribute to an annual report on
education equity.
Bainbridge Island Review, Feb. 18, 2015
Pierce County
two-year college students named to All-Washington Academic Team
Ten students representing Bates
Technical College, Clover
Park Technical College, Pierce College and Tacoma Community College
were selected to the 2015 All-Washington Academic Team. The team will be
honored March 26 at a recognition ceremony held at South Puget Sound
Community College.
The Suburban Times, Feb. 18, 2015
CPTC: Designing
her future
Julianna Jewell doesn’t care for rigid standards. But she also doesn’t like
having too much free space. She has found a happy medium in Clover Park Technical
College’s Graphic Technologies Program.
... Because of Running Start at CPTC, Jewell will graduate in
June 2016 with her high school diploma and a Graphic Technologies Degree at
the age of 17. The self-starter at Puyallup High School took it upon
herself to search area schools near Puyallup that offered graphic design
programs.
The Suburban Times, Feb. 18, 2015
Community
college students gather for rally in Olympia
Students from Washington’s 34 community and technical colleges gathered for
a legislative rally Feb. 5 in an effort to bring attention to certain
issues of concern. Hundreds of students gathered in the Washington State
Capitol Building’s rotunda and heard from a number of legislators,
students, and advocates. As the Washington Association of Community and
Technical Colleges Student Association (WACTCSA) president, Pierce College
student Robert Lasker served as the event’s emcee.
The Suburban Times, Feb. 17, 2015
Bates Technical
College students deliver sweet message in Olympia
A handful of Bates
Technical College students and staff delivered a sweet
message to several state legislators and their aides on Tuesday, Feb. 10,
during the 23rd annual Legislative Cookie Day. The group visited the state
Capitol to deliver fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies, individually
wrapped with a message about the important role technical and community
colleges play in our economy. The message read, “Building a work-ready
Washington: Washington’s community and technical colleges are a proven
solution for better jobs, brighter futures, and a stronger economy.”
The Suburban Times, Feb. 17, 2015
CPTC: The
president’s unsung hero for February
Workforce Development Grants and Special Projects Coordinator Christine
Campbell mainly works behind the scenes at Clover Park Technical College. But
her efforts certainly don’t go unnoticed. Because of her entrepreneurial
efforts in grant administration Campbell was selected the President’s
Unsung Hero for February.
The Suburban Times, Feb. 17, 2015
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