They received $300
stipends for completing the summer session.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN — Mayra Espada of Himrod Avenue sees the Youngstown Early College program as a key step in her future.
Espada, who will enter the program as a ninth-grader in August, has her sights set on becoming a pediatrician. Earning college credits while still in high school fits right in with her ambition to enroll in the Youngstown State University-Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine BS/MD degree.
Students in that accelerated degree program can complete their undergraduate and medical school training in just six years.
Mayra is one of 68 Youngstown students who completed a Summer Bridge program held on the YSU campus in preparation for the start of Youngstown Early College freshman classes Aug. 13.
YEC is a joint program on the YSU campus operated by the university and the Youngstown City School District, enabling students to spend their four years of high school on the YSU campus and earn some college credits while also earning their high school diplomas.
Helping to transition
The special summer program, enacted this year to help prepare students for work at the college level and to ease the transition from neighborhood schools to a college campus, was the result of a consultant's suggestion that incoming YEC freshmen needed some additional preparation.
A total of 75 were accepted for the Summer Bridge program and 68 completed the six-week educational effort that saw them take a college Reading and Study Skills class and a lecture seminar, earning them four college credits and a $300 stipend, all funded through grant money.
The 68 students were honored at a reception on campus Friday.
The summer session was "quite interesting," Mayra said, adding that she thinks it will be helpful when classes begin.
As for YEC, she believes it is a good opportunity for her.
Her father, Robert Espada, agrees.
"I think it's an excellent opportunity. She should take advantage of it," he said.
Exciting opportunity
Abigail Lopez of South Jackson Street was on hand to support her daughter, Vanessa Fonseca, who will also be a YEC freshman this year.
"It's an opportunity that we didn't get growing up," Lopez said of the program.
"It's exciting and great and wonderful."
Vanessa said she was pleased to learn the reading and study skills she will need to succeed at YEC.
"I think it's a great opportunity to get college credits," she said, adding that her plans may not include enrolling at YSU after high school.
Her interest lies in the culinary arts, she said.
Lopez's younger daughter, Rebecca Fonseca, attended Friday's program to get a look at what all the excitement was about.
The seventh-grader at P. Ross Berry Middle School said she would like to attend YEC as a ninth-grader.
YEC was created four years ago and will have its first graduating seniors next spring, said John Wilson, the new dean of the school.
It's a notable program, he said, noting there are only eight early colleges in Ohio and just three are affiliated with four-year institutions.
The goal is to make YEC a national model, he said. The school was rated "excellent" last year on the state's annual local report card.
gwin@vindy.com
Saturday, July 28, 2007
They received $300
stipends for completing the summer session.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN — Mayra Espada of Himrod Avenue sees the Youngstown Early College program as a key step in her future.
Espada, who will enter the program as a ninth-grader in August, has her sights set on becoming a pediatrician. Earning college credits while still in high school fits right in with her ambition to enroll in the Youngstown State University-Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine BS/MD degree.
Students in that accelerated degree program can complete their undergraduate and medical school training in just six years.
Mayra is one of 68 Youngstown students who completed a Summer Bridge program held on the YSU campus in preparation for the start of Youngstown Early College freshman classes Aug. 13.
YEC is a joint program on the YSU campus operated by the university and the Youngstown City School District, enabling students to spend their four years of high school on the YSU campus and earn some college credits while also earning their high school diplomas.
Helping to transition
The special summer program, enacted this year to help prepare students for work at the college level and to ease the transition from neighborhood schools to a college campus, was the result of a consultant's suggestion that incoming YEC freshmen needed some additional preparation.
A total of 75 were accepted for the Summer Bridge program and 68 completed the six-week educational effort that saw them take a college Reading and Study Skills class and a lecture seminar, earning them four college credits and a $300 stipend, all funded through grant money.
The 68 students were honored at a reception on campus Friday.
The summer session was "quite interesting," Mayra said, adding that she thinks it will be helpful when classes begin.
As for YEC, she believes it is a good opportunity for her.
Her father, Robert Espada, agrees.
"I think it's an excellent opportunity. She should take advantage of it," he said.
Exciting opportunity
Abigail Lopez of South Jackson Street was on hand to support her daughter, Vanessa Fonseca, who will also be a YEC freshman this year.
"It's an opportunity that we didn't get growing up," Lopez said of the program.
"It's exciting and great and wonderful."
Vanessa said she was pleased to learn the reading and study skills she will need to succeed at YEC.
"I think it's a great opportunity to get college credits," she said, adding that her plans may not include enrolling at YSU after high school.
Her interest lies in the culinary arts, she said.
Lopez's younger daughter, Rebecca Fonseca, attended Friday's program to get a look at what all the excitement was about.
The seventh-grader at P. Ross Berry Middle School said she would like to attend YEC as a ninth-grader.
YEC was created four years ago and will have its first graduating seniors next spring, said John Wilson, the new dean of the school.
It's a notable program, he said, noting there are only eight early colleges in Ohio and just three are affiliated with four-year institutions.
The goal is to make YEC a national model, he said. The school was rated "excellent" last year on the state's annual local report card.
gwin@vindy.com
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Mayra Espada of Himrod Avenue sees the Youngstown Early College program as a key step in her future.
Espada, who will...
