Our rural Southwest Wisconsin communities are facing three major crises. First, our rural K-12 students do not have the opportunities many urban students are afforded. Second, we have more jobs than we do people. Third, as our citizens graduate from high school they leave our area for bigger and better opportunities. To help solve the equity crisis, local K-12 leaders, business executives, and higher education administrators met multiples times over coffee, a blank piece of paper, and wild ideas. Out of the meetings, came a dream to meet our rural K-12 with dual credit opportunities in their high schools with the use of alternative delivery. The product called CollEDGE Up is a model that allows for students in grades 10-12 to complete up to one year of a two-year program while they are enrolled in high school.
Why? -> Our rural Southwest Wisconsin communities are facing three major crises. First, our rural K-12 students do not have the opportunities many urban students are afforded. Second, we have more jobs than we do people. Third, as our citizens graduate from high school they leave our area for bigger and better opportunities. To help solve the equity crisis, local K-12 leaders, business executives, and higher education administrators met multiples times over coffee, a blank piece of paper, and wild ideas. Out of the meetings, came a dream to meet our rural K-12 with dual credit opportunities in their high schools with the use of alternative delivery. The product called CollEDGE Up is a model that allows for students in grades 10-12 to complete up to one year of a two-year program while they are enrolled in high school. The student stays in their high school and connects into the college courses taught by the college’s faculty member with the use of their personal Chromebooks and distance education technology. Our most popular program is nursing. For students to capitalize on the nursing program, they begin taking foundation courses as a sophomore in high school, and then take nursing courses their junior and senior year of high school. After completion from high school, the student has earned the education to sit for the LPN licensing exam. The student also earns automatic entrance into our two-year nursing program. This program has changed lives for our rural communities and their residents and provides our students with the belief they can achieve college.
How did this work?-> The local K-12 at the table agreed this type of program is needed. Local business agreed to scholarship students to take the courses. The technical college agreed to teach the courses to the K-12 students via distance learning.
Results? -> Year one, we served five schools districts with 17 students, year two we served 16 schools with 48 students and year three our goal is 20 schools districts with 75 students.
Next steps? -> We are actively seeking ways to expand the program with additional educational tracks, more business sponsorships, and creating a recognition program for the high schools who are educating the most students.
Interactivity? ->
- Ice breaker depicting an unsure student.
- A couple of Kahoot quiz questions.
- Multiple YouTube clips to bring non-offensive humor into the presentation.