March 18, 2015 7:55 pm • JENNIFER MOODY Albany Democrat­Herald (0) Comments

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College Clubs

It’s early release day at South Shore Elementary School, which means it’s time for college.

More than a dozen fourth­ and fifth­graders gather around Randi Cook and Ashley Seymour,education students from Linn­Benton Community College, as they unpack supplies for today’sCollege Club.

The students are looking to feed themselves a snack, but Cook and Seymour are out to feed theirdreams.

Today’s discussion topic: What things can you do, both now and later, to start preparing forcollege?

“Practice and study what you want to be,” one girl calls, as Cook begins a list on the classroom

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Buy NowLinn­Benton Community College students Randi Cook, left, and Ashley Seymour talk withmembers of South Shore's College Club about the things they can do now to prepare forcollege.

Photos by Mark Ylen

white board.

Other students chime in. “You could try to figure out your dream job and what classes you want totake.” “Practice math.” “Read a lot.”

Cook and Seymour begin handing out colored pencils and strips of paper for the day’s art project.The students will create their own bookmarks with words or pictures meant to encourageeducation past high school. They’ll vote on their favorite, and the winner will be copied anddistributed to every child at South Shore.

Artwork possibilities are wide open, club members are told. “But it has to be about college, andencouraging, and you­can­do­it, and talk about how cool college is,” Cook stresses.

Schools have always emphasized higher education, but not every student has believed it to be arealistic personal goal. Through the College Club and similar efforts, however, South Shore isjoining a statewide shift in educational philosophy to change that mindset.

Four years ago, Gov. John Kitzhaber requested the formation of a new state agency — theOregon Education Investment Board — and charged it with making sure all public school studentsreach a particular education outcome.

Senate Bill 253 defined that outcome in numbers: 40­40­20. By the year 2025, 40 percent of adultOregonians are to have earned a four­year college degree and 40 percent an associate degreeor post­secondary credential. The remaining 20 percent will have earned at least a high schooldiploma or the equivalent.

It’s a tall order for a state currently considered lowest in the nation for its four­year high schoolgraduation rates alone. But many educators believe it all starts with the right mindset.

Individual teachers throughout the valley are working with colleges and universities, asking themto share information with students or provide time for tours if they’re within a quick bus ride.

Some schools, including Lafayette in Albany and Pioneer in Lebanon, have joined the nonprofit“No Excuses University” program, a 10­year­old effort that promotes college readiness for allstudents and a culture of universal achievement.

A lack of hard data makes it difficult to prove whether simply promoting college at an early ageactually leads to more college graduates. But Kelly Tedeschi, who created South Shore’s CollegeClub as part of an overall program called College Coach, figures it’s important to at least start theconversation — and the earlier the better if it’s going to become a reality.

h3>Shaping the dream

Tedeschi is working at Linn­Benton Community College as a member of the national serviceprogram known as AmeriCorps VISTA.

She has partnerships with five sites throughout the Albany school district, with different offeringsat different buildings, all under the umbrella of her overall program, College Coach.

At South Albany High and Calapooia Middle schools, LBCC students work as tutors and mentorsin drop­in sessions open to all. At Waverly Elementary, an LBCC student works as a teacher’sassistant. Tedeschi herself runs the Sunrise Elementary School College Club, similar to the one atSouth Shore.

Technically, Tedeschi said, the clubs support and encourage any type of postsecondaryeducation, from a certificate in welding, say, to a four­year degree. “It just doesn’t sound as goodto say, ‘Postsecondary Education Club,’” she quipped.

The clubs are paid for through LBCC’s Student Engagement Department, although costs areminimal. Tedeschi estimates she spent $400 in her first 15 weeks, most of that in marketing andtraining materials.

The goal of Tedeschi’s position is twofold: to create service opportunities for LBCC students, and

to link those opportunities with low­income schools in Albany to help boost academic achievementand post­diploma learning.

The challenges facing her College Club students are steep, Tedeschi acknowledged. But theyneedn’t be the end of the story.

“We want to give kids the expectation, first of all, that they can go to college,” she said. “It’s notout of reach for them just because their parents didn’t go to college, or they don’t do well inschool, or their families don’t make a lot of money.”

Financial, academic challengeThe cost of a college education is a significant hurdle for low­income families.

At Oregon State University, the current estimated cost jumps to an average $24,594, assumingfull­time status and in­state tuition. Expect an even higher bill at a private institution: CorbanUniversity in Salem, for instance, lists its per­year estimate at $41,432.

For most students, money struggles continue well past graduation. The Project on Student Debt,an initiative of the nonprofit research group the Institute for College Access & Success, found 69percent of seniors in 2013 studying at in four­year institutions nationwide graduated with studentloan debt, at an average of $28,400 each. That’s up 2 percent from the previous year.

At Oregon State, the 2013 figures showed 60 percent of graduating seniors in debt by an averageof $22,831. At Corban University that year, 82 percent of graduates owed an average $26,318each.

Statistically speaking, the costs pay off in the long run. A 2013 report by The College Boardcompared the earnings of graduates with high school diplomas to those with bachelor’s degreesand found that, on average, the degree recipients earned nearly $20,000 more than their diplomacounterparts. That figure soared to more than $70,000 for workers with professional degrees.

Tedeschi’s clubs don’t practice filling out financial aid forms or go too deeply into the specifics, butthey do acknowledge the financial realities involved in higher education. In the “Barriers toCollege” unit, for instance, coaches go over the average one­year pricetags.

“Because that number can be hard to conceptualize, the kiddos were asked to think of otherthings you could get that were the same price. Then the coaches led a discussion about what kindof things someone could do to prepare for this cost,” Tedeschi said. “So while it was more of adiscussion and less of an activity, it got the kids thinking about the financial burden of college, andhow it could keep some people from pursuing post­secondary education.”

Scholarships are one funding source, but that’s where the next challenge comes in: grades. Andmany of Tedeschi’s young charges fall into one or more of the subgroups for potential academicfailure: low income backgrounds and a first language other than English.

At South Shore, 77 percent of the 460­some students are considered “economicallydisadvantaged,” according to the district’s most recent state report card, and 38 percent areEnglish language learners.

Sunrise, which has Tedeschi’s other after­school College Club, has similar statistics: 85 percentand 31 percent, respectively.

Fully half of South Shore’s population identifies as Hispanic; slightly less at Sunrise. Oregonreports fewer Hispanic students drop out of school now than did 10 years ago, but four­yeargraduation rates are still at 65 percent, compared with 72 percent for the state as a whole.

Sunrise’s test scores put the school at the state average, and it’s considered above average forschools with similar demographics. But South Shore has struggled, ranking below both the stateaverage and the average for schools with similar demographics.

Most of the state’s public universities, including OSU, require a minimum grade point average of3.0 and completion of 15 required subject area courses, with a C­minus or better in four years of

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English, three years of math (Algebra II or higher), three years of social studies, two years of aforeign language and at least three years of science with two years minimum in differentdisciplines.

“In regards to academics, that is something we really try to emphasize. In fact, that’s what theother strand of the College Coach program is for,” Tedeschi said. “The tutors at South Albany,Calapooia and Waverly are there to empower students to improve their academics. While theymay not get the chance to talk about college explicitly, they are trained on ways to brieflyincorporate college into the conversation.”

Shifting expectationsTedeschi’s VISTA contract ends in August. Someone else will have to agree to take the programon to make it a long­term feature in Albany schools.

“The more people that are invested in and are benefitting from this program, the more likely it willcontinue next year,” she said. “Part of my job is making this program a fixture at LBCC and inGAPS and determining the future path and sustainability of the program.”

Short­term, Tedeschi said, she will rely on reports from coaches about their experiences,teachers’ perspectives on student growth, and changes in grade reports and student commentsabout their College Coach experiences to evaluate the effectiveness of the program.

Marcy Beltran, South Shore’s dean of students, said she’s seeing hopeful signs.

“I have noticed the positive influence that the college class has on some of the kids. They focusmore on their future,” she said. “A few have strong family backgrounds, but a good amount ofthem, they would be the first generation going to college.”

Beltran said she believes in encouraging children to reach for bigger dreams from an early age.She taught fourth and fifth grade at South Shore before becoming dean this year and encouragedher students to reach out to area colleges for information on what they do.

In class, she said, they’d talk about college in terms of “when,” not “if.”

It makes a difference, she said. “And I can tell you that from personal experience. I was highlyencouraged to go to college from elementary teachers. That helped plant the seed.”

South Shore fifth­grader Kristal Romero, 10, said she thinks the club is helping her prepare for herfuture.

“I wanted to learn what they do in college and start being prepared for college and learn a lot ofthings,” she said.

It’s important, agreed classmate Jahir Hernandez, 10. “College will help you get a job later. Agood job.”

Tedeschi herself likely won’t be in Albany by the time South Shore’s College Club studentsbecome graduates. She would like to see their success rates tracked at that point but isn’t surewho will do it or how.

Still, she said: “I think this is a good way to get the conversation started early, so that by the timethey get to high school they have the understanding that they can do it — and they should do it.”

Jennifer Moody covers education issues for the Albany Democrat­Herald. She can be reached at 541­812­6113.

Copyright 2015 Albany Democrat Herald. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten orredistributed.

South Shore Elementary, Sunrise Elementary, Linn Benton Community College, Kelly Tedeschi,College Club, Americorps Vista

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