JAMESTOWN – Early College High School students from JHS have had the opportunity this summer to participate in an academic orientation at Jamestown Community College.
This experience helped students understand college-level academic expectations and become familiarized with the JCC campus.
“The Early College High School grant helps students who are typically underrepresented in college get a head start on taking some college-level courses and earn a minimum of 24 but up to 35 college credits while still in high school.” said ECHS Grant Coordinator, Laura Livengood. “The grant provides extra support for students like tutoring, mentorship, job shadowing opportunities and exposure to academic and career paths through guest speakers and field trips to colleges.”
During this time, they participated in a variety of team-building activities and were able to hear from speakers in career paths they are interested in pursuing.
“The program allows you to get a head start and gives you so many opportunities,” said ECHS student, Zeiry Rosa. “It also allows you a glimpse into your future and try out the different career pathways during high school to decide what you think you might like to do. This summer is really preparing us for taking our first college-level class this school year. It has also been great to have the different guest speakers come and talk giving us an idea of what working in that area might be like.,”
Recently, the group heard from Kristopher Winkler from LaBella Associates, a Design Professional Corporation, who brought design plans for the new Buffalo Bills stadium to discuss the project and the wide array of engineering pathways students could take.
“We’ve had a lot of new opportunities and experiences this summer and found out how college life works through the grant, and who wouldn’t want a head start on their college career?” said ECHS student, Mary Bailey. “I chose the environmental science pathway because it is the closest to what I want to do in college and I thought it would be helpful to my future.”
Other guests this summer have included: JCC’s Jade Barber who prepared kids for the college registration process; Adam Gould, also from JCC, discussing web design academic and career pathways; and Mathew Mancuso and Alex Miller from Cummins Engine discussing engineering.
The Early College High School grant provides JHS cohorts of 25 to 30 students with a chosen path in web design, engineering sciences, or environmental science. As part of the partnership, JCC provides summer experiences for students, as well as coursework that students will take at both the high school and on-campus.
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