By Janice Kurbjun
Times staff writer
Dave Throgmorton’s presentation about furthering concurrent and dual enrollment shook the Carbon County District 1 School Board room like an earthquake last week.
“The county is flush with money from the energy boom,” said Throgmorton, Carbon County Higher Education Center director. “We want to use the tax dollars to create vocational, community and K through 12 programs. I really want to blur the line between the reality we see and the reality we’d like to see, between the community and the school.”
At no cost to them, District 1 students could earn an associate’s degree before they graduate high school. To do so, they can enroll in courses that count for high school and college credits simultaneously.
“They save in tuition, fees and books,” said Patty Pedersen, CCHEC’s student services coordinator. “They also save in dorm rooms. And they become prepared for college level courses.”
To dually enroll, students must take a course during an elective period or outside of school hours. Taught by a college professor, the student earns the college credits, but is limited to one elective credit on their high school transcript. Students must pay tuition for this type of enrollment. If they maintain the right grade, the higher education board reimburses the course fees.
Concurrent enrollment, on the other hand, allows students to earn full credit in high school and college by taking a course under what Pedersen called a “high school professor.” The secondary education teacher is a qualified college professor for such classes.
In District 1, Little Snake River Valley School has two teachers who offer concurrent enrollment. Rawlins High School has none.
This semester, Carbon County schools had a total of 24 students concurrently enrolled. Six were enrolled in Baggs and the remainder were in Carbon County School District 2. To compare, Uinta County high schools have 108 concurrently enrolled students and Fremont County high schools have 550.
Throgmorton and Pedersen hope District 1 parents and the school board push to develop the concurrent enrollment in particular, since it has no price tag for anyone involved. It does, however, require teachers to put in the extra work to become college certified and challenge students at the next level.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
New teacher, new programs?
By Janice Kurbjun
Times staff writer
A new hire at Saratoga Middle High School could mean an overhaul of the industrial arts program by August.
The Carbon County District 2 School Board recently approved a contract for Scott Bokelman, who taught industrial technology for 24 years in Nebraska and Texas.
Currently, the program focuses on woodworking and drafting, but Saratoga Principal Larry Uhling hopes to expand into electronics, manufacturing and other technical areas. The new program would be called industrial technology.
Uhling, who has a technical background, has an idea of how he wants to see the program develop.
“I want to bring in a new perspective,” he said. “We should keep education exciting and deal with things that are happening now. Not that we don’t still have jobs that require pounding nails or turning spindles on a wood lathe, but jobs are changing in the 21st century, and we need a career program that is alive and viable.”
With the help of Bokelman and Dave Urasky, vocational educator at the Carbon County Higher Education Center, the program should take shape this summer. First, Uhling has to wait for the school year to finish and for Bokelman to finish his contract in Nebraska.
Uhling hopes the partnership with Urasky will help avoid pitfalls as the program unfolds. The two schools should also be able to work together to provide unique programs.
Uhling mentioned the possibility of introducing solid modeling at Saratoga, but executing the designs remotely, using CCHEC’s computerized lathe.
“There is a lot of work to be done,” Uhling said.
Times staff writer
A new hire at Saratoga Middle High School could mean an overhaul of the industrial arts program by August.
The Carbon County District 2 School Board recently approved a contract for Scott Bokelman, who taught industrial technology for 24 years in Nebraska and Texas.
Currently, the program focuses on woodworking and drafting, but Saratoga Principal Larry Uhling hopes to expand into electronics, manufacturing and other technical areas. The new program would be called industrial technology.
Uhling, who has a technical background, has an idea of how he wants to see the program develop.
“I want to bring in a new perspective,” he said. “We should keep education exciting and deal with things that are happening now. Not that we don’t still have jobs that require pounding nails or turning spindles on a wood lathe, but jobs are changing in the 21st century, and we need a career program that is alive and viable.”
With the help of Bokelman and Dave Urasky, vocational educator at the Carbon County Higher Education Center, the program should take shape this summer. First, Uhling has to wait for the school year to finish and for Bokelman to finish his contract in Nebraska.
Uhling hopes the partnership with Urasky will help avoid pitfalls as the program unfolds. The two schools should also be able to work together to provide unique programs.
Uhling mentioned the possibility of introducing solid modeling at Saratoga, but executing the designs remotely, using CCHEC’s computerized lathe.
“There is a lot of work to be done,” Uhling said.
New school project pushing forward
Times staff report
The Carbon County District 1 School Board approved a contract to help find a construction manager for the new Rawlins elementary school project during a meeting last week.
The partnership with Bill Brown of Preconstruction Services should ease administrative efforts in the selection process. Brown should work with a committee from the district administration office, the schools, the School Facilities Commission and the district’s architecture firm to choose the applicant.
“It’s a big chore and a big decision to choose someone to help with building $20 million of elementary schools,” said Garry Goergen, business manager for the district.
Also at the meeting, School Board members:
• Scheduled the annual meeting with the certified teaching staff to discuss benefits, salaries and other financial issues, which should be held at 5 p.m. Thursday in the Carbon County Library. It is open to the public. The board members should discuss and vote on the staff concerns at 6 p.m. in the board room of the central administration office on Rodeo Street.
• Postponed a presentation from planning architect Brad Oberg on the design recommendations for the elementary schools. The presentation was based on a set of individual meetings with representatives from each department of the school.
• Reviewed, but delayed the approval of a revised policy concerning support staff leaves and absences until the district’s attorney verifies its compliance with the Family and Medical Leave Act.
• Discussed and voted to hold approval of the Pine Cove Consulting technology support contract until the contract reads that no work will be done unilaterally, in order to avoid additional costs.
• Transferred the chief operating officer role to Associate Superintendent Neil Terhune in the prolonged absence of Superintendent Peggy Sanders. In her stead, Terhune will have authority matching that of the superintendent.
• Approved the expulsion of a Rawlins High School student.
The Carbon County District 1 School Board approved a contract to help find a construction manager for the new Rawlins elementary school project during a meeting last week.
The partnership with Bill Brown of Preconstruction Services should ease administrative efforts in the selection process. Brown should work with a committee from the district administration office, the schools, the School Facilities Commission and the district’s architecture firm to choose the applicant.
“It’s a big chore and a big decision to choose someone to help with building $20 million of elementary schools,” said Garry Goergen, business manager for the district.
Also at the meeting, School Board members:
• Scheduled the annual meeting with the certified teaching staff to discuss benefits, salaries and other financial issues, which should be held at 5 p.m. Thursday in the Carbon County Library. It is open to the public. The board members should discuss and vote on the staff concerns at 6 p.m. in the board room of the central administration office on Rodeo Street.
• Postponed a presentation from planning architect Brad Oberg on the design recommendations for the elementary schools. The presentation was based on a set of individual meetings with representatives from each department of the school.
• Reviewed, but delayed the approval of a revised policy concerning support staff leaves and absences until the district’s attorney verifies its compliance with the Family and Medical Leave Act.
• Discussed and voted to hold approval of the Pine Cove Consulting technology support contract until the contract reads that no work will be done unilaterally, in order to avoid additional costs.
• Transferred the chief operating officer role to Associate Superintendent Neil Terhune in the prolonged absence of Superintendent Peggy Sanders. In her stead, Terhune will have authority matching that of the superintendent.
• Approved the expulsion of a Rawlins High School student.
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