Maj, 19. 2010
l-lnrtlanö (Ohseruer
Gateway to College
A Portland Community College
"We were a team o f people trying
program, which helps high school to solve a student need," said pro
dropouts get their diplomas by tak gram director Linda Huddle, the re
ing college courses for dual credit, maining founder at the PCC Gate
is turning 10 years old this June.
way to College program. "It has
The 10-year anniversary o f Gate been 10 years o f really hard work.
way to College and related PCC Prep But then there has been all o f this
Alternative programs will be held achievement that the students have
from 4 to 8 p.m., Friday, June 4, at the made as they have become active
C ascad e C am p u s, 705 N. private citizens. They are overcom
Killingsworth St. The event will in ing great challenges in order to
clude a barbecue, music, dance per catch up and surpass their peers.
formances, ice cream and other fam That is one o f the big things about
ily fun.
Gateway students; they're not just
Gateway to College has become getting credits for high school gradu
one o f Oregon's biggest success ation, but are getting these credits
stories in giving high school drop to move into a post-secondary ca
outs a second chance at completing reer."
their diploma and transitioning into
It might not be a surprise that
higher education. It challenges drop Gateway to College has flourished
outs in the PCC district, a tradition in Oregon, where an alternative edu
ally underserved population, with cation law mandates school districts
rigorous, college-level curriculum provide additional options for high
and the opportunity to earn signifi school students who are not ben
cant college credit.
efiting from their general compre
The program started with three hensive service.
partner school districts and 19 stu
Dylan Bartle and Rebecca Will
dents, but since then has served iams illustrate the second chance
1,983 students locally by using a that the Gateway program has pro
network of eight school districts to vided to so many students across
identify at-risk students. These in the country.
clude Portland Public Schools,
In 2007, Williams was a junior at
B eav e rto n ,
T ig a rd -T u a la tin , Madison High School and already a
Hillsboro, Lake Oswego, David year behind her peers. Williams,
Douglas, Centennial and Sherwood. whose step-mom went to Princeton
Barry and Bonnie Hewlett are headed to Ethiopia on Fulbright
Scholar grants to teach and conduct research.
velop an anthropology depart-
ment at Hawassa U niversity in the
African republic. They will spend
80 percent o f their time teaching
and 20 percent pursuing indepen-
dent research projects. Bonnie will
be working on a w om en's life his-
tories narrative and Barry will be
researching how children acquire
medical knowledge.
Dropouts earn diplomas at PCC
ing better than high school because
there's less drama," Williams said.
"When I was in high school, I was
failing most o f my classes and now,
since I've been here, I get As and Bs
and I do really well. I didn't under
stand math at all when I was in high
school. Since I've been going here
and taking college math classes and
with the way the teachers teach, I
don't know, it just clicks. I've been
learning a lot more since I've been in
the Gateway program than I did in
high school. I pay attention more
and learn more."
In 2008, Bartle was expelled from
Barlow High School and, after being
out o f school for almost two years,
he moved to Portland and enrolled
in Gateway. He now wants to be
come a doctor and will apply to
Portland State University to do pre
Gateway to College students Dylan Bartle and Rebecca Williams
med once he's finished his transfer
are high school age students who feel more at home at Portland
degree at PCC.
Community College.
"It's my own responsibility to be
University and whose dad didn't starts and stops along the way that here," Bartle said. "If I didn't want to
finish high school, would have had many in her situation go through, be here they'd just drop me. Even
to take night classes and summer she got back into the program last though there is more homework
school to catch up. But her counse winter and is on target to get into here, I wanted my education more at
lor at the school mentioned Gate PCC's nursing program.
Gateway because I'm treated as an
way as an alternative. After some
"I like the college style o f leam- adult."
Partnering to support Diversity
in local government, urban
planning and design professions.
Couple to Teach in Africa
The Vancouver campus ofW ash-
ington State University has two pro-
fessors who are headed to Ethiopia
as Fulbright scholars.
Barry Hewlett is a professor o f
anthropology at WSU Vancouver,
His wife, Bonnie Hewlett is a vis-
iting anthropology professor at
the school. Both have earned
Fulbright Scholar grants to de-
Page 5
V ancouver
WASHINGTON
The City of Vancouver
and
The Oregon Chapter,
American
Planning Association
Ambassador Program