WCC to begin to bus students from GHS, Eastern Wayne
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on June 1, 2016 1:46 PM
The idea behind a pilot program opening Wayne Community College to two more high schools sprung from a conversation Dr. Gene Smith had with his daughter several months ago.
Now, starting this fall, students from Goldsboro and Eastern Wayne high schools will be taking college classes on campus, said the vice president of academic and student services.
"This idea was sort of all birthed when I was at dinner with my daughter, Kayleigh," he told the board of trustees recently. "She is a graduating senior at Charles B. Aycock. She has completed over 27 hours here at Wayne Community College.
"I said, 'Kayleigh, you know we have 77 students at CBA that attend, but we have almost 2,000 juniors and seniors (in the county). Why don't we have more (here)?' She said, 'Dad, they can't get to Wayne Community.'"
His daughter is fortunate, in that she can drive to the college, Smith said, but many of her friends can't.
"If we can provide transportation, then more students will have the opportunity," he said.
The notion took root, with officials from the college and the school system forging a partnership to make the programs more accessible to students.
"Back in the early fall we had an opportunity to create greater opportunities for high school students of Wayne County," Smith said. "Our idea was to work with the county and work with Wayne County Public Schools to take students from the high school to the college campus.
"You know, we have all this equipment. The high schools do not in most cases. So they can enroll in our classes and utilize the state of practice equipment."
The pilot program will start with the two aforementioned high schools, busing students from those campuses to WCC to take classes. The plan calls for them to take core subjects at their base school and then college classes and vocational programs at WCC.
"We're very excited about that. We hope that it will grow so that every high school will be able to participate," he said. "Right now, we'll start with those two campuses as a pilot program, and it will do no more than create greater opportunities with students.
"We can't bring the $300,000 3-D printer to (the schools) but we can easily bring the students to our campus."
Goldsboro High has already changed its school calendar to match the college schedule, Dr. Kay Albertson, WCC president, said, calling it an "incredibly smart move."
"Goldsboro High School had the lowest number of dual enrolled students at Wayne. There's absolutely no reason for that," she said, pointing out that it is located so close to the campus. "But transportation is an issue and scheduling is an issue so now we have three schools in Wayne County that will be following more of a calendar of (WCC) and that is Goldsboro, Wayne School of Engineering and of course, our early college (Wayne Early Middle/College). That just works really beautifully."
The program is part of the Career and College Promise pathway followed by the state's community college system, she said.
"Obviously we have college transfer and all of those other technical programs," she said. "But the public schools have worked out the transportation.
"It's a huge commitment and the staff members are happy about it, excited about it, and I think this is a step in the right direction."
It has also met with approval by the district's superintendent, Dr. Michael Dunsmore, and his staff, Mrs. Albertson said.
"As Dr. Dunsmore said to the school board, that's the best use, those buses are coming to our campus anyway because they're bringing the early college students to the campus," she said. "So he's got 17 buses."
"Actually, I counted 21," Smith said. "I sat in the parking lot one afternoon and counted to see how many were going out and how full they were.
"None of them were even close to capacity because all of the students that come from WEMCH are coming from everywhere."
With logistics like that, there is no reason not to get more high school students on campus, Mrs. Albertson said.
Not only is it cost effective -- tuition is free -- but students get a jump start on college credit and the college gets credit for teaching them.
"We have over 530 students in the county that are taking advantage of the is opportunity right now," Smith said. "That's up from 350 the year before."
Board member Wayne Aycock said he heard someone at the recent commencement ceremony say that several students were graduating with college certificates who hadn't even graduated from high school.
"That's right," Mrs. Albertson said. "We have early college and School of Engineering. They're earning those associate degrees and Thursday night the early college graduation, and I'll stand on that stage and shake hands all over again. They got their college graduate (diploma) before they got their high school diploma.
"And these are sharp, hard-working, motivated students, and they will tell you they didn't come there that way. They got excited about the changes that these innovative schools offer. That's what's going to happen at Goldsboro High School."