Education

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Written by: CALPIRG

Published: 14 December 2009

LOS ANGELES – Community College students could graduate faster and with better grades if they spent less time working at their jobs and more time studying and taking classes, according to a new report, entitled “Working Too Hard to Make the Grade,” released Dec. 7 by the public interest group

CALPIRG.

Community college students surveyed reported working an average of 23 hours per week to cover college costs, leaving them without enough time to focus on academics.

At the same time, many community college students had basic misunderstandings about financial aid, and the less they understood the less likely they were to have applied for aid.

These factors likely contribute to low graduation rates – only 24 percent of community college students who intend to earn an associates’ degree or transfer to a four-year institution succeed in doing so within six years.

“People think community colleges are cheap” said Chloe Kaliman, CALPIRG student at Santa Monica College, “but fees are only about 5 percent of the total cost of attendance, and so most students have no choice but to work long hours to get through school.”

However, less than one-quarter of students surveyed felt that they were able to balance work and study well.

Many survey respondents felt that their work hours made it difficult for them to keep up with their schoolwork.

Others felt their employment commitments kept them from taking another class, or being more involved on campus.

When asked three basic questions about financial aid, only ten percent of survey respondents were able to answer all correctly.

Those who knew the least about financial aid were also the least likely to have applied for it.

The report recommends that financial aid offices work to clear up basic misunderstandings and help students fill out the FAFSA and receive all of the aid for which they are eligible.

CALPIRG also created a Year Book style anthology of students’ personal stories highlighting the issues they face balancing work and study.

One student from Santa Monica College writes, “My day consists of waking up early, going to classes and then work and then home in time to study; hoping that I can piece together 5-6 hours of sleep.”

Another from Fresno City College writes “I work at Taco Bell where I'm the general manager and it requires at least 45 hours a week. It's common to get a call from work asking me to drop everything and be there. It's almost impossible to go to school.”

“We need to increase our investment in higher education and fund state financial aid programs adequately, so that students can afford to focus on academics,” Says Zomer. “Reading through some of these stories you can’t help but be impressed by the students’ determination to succeed, but for many of them the obstacles are ultimately too great. Why are we setting students up to fail? Let’s make it possible for them to succeed – we’ll all benefit.”

CALPIRG is a statewide, non-profit public interest organization, with chapters at eleven campuses in California: Visit www.calpirgstudents.org for more information about CALPIRG’s Getting to Graduation Campaign.

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Written by: Editor

Published: 13 December 2009

KELSEYVILLE – Generous donors have fully funded a project request for classroom materials submitted by Mrs. Koschik, a ninth grade teacher at Kelseyville High School, according to the online education charity DonorsChoose.org.

The project is titled "Dissection Supplies for Human Anatomy " and it will provide health and life science resources and experiences for 14 students.

One generous donor contributed $178 in total to the project, which was matched with funds from a DonorsChoose.org grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Mrs. Koschik is among tens of thousands of teachers across the country who are turning to DonorsChoose.org to get the learning materials they and their students need.

"Too often, teachers lack critical resources in their classrooms – and in many instances they spend their own money trying to provide for their students," said Charles Best, founder and CEO of DonorsChoose.org. "Unfortunately, even hundreds of dollars out of pocket each year doesn't necessarily cover the costs of what's needed. That's where concerned citizens come in; anyone, regardless of means, can donate directly to project requests like Mrs. Koschik's at DonorsChoose.org."

Donations go twice as far for many of the project requests posted at DonorsChoose.org, including Mrs. Koschik's. DonorsChoose.org received a $4.1 million grant from the Gates Foundation in 2008 to support teachers who aim to promote college-readiness among students in high-need urban and rural public schools.

As Mrs. Koschik wrote in the project, "For the college bound student choosing a science major the skills in this lab activity will greatly help them in their future endeavors. All students will directly benefit because this may be as close as they ever get to peering into the human body."

In addition to Mrs. Koschik's project, there are currently 4 project requests in Kelseyville posted at DonorsChoose.org and in need of funding. They can be found by using DonorsChoose.org's search tool at www.donorschoose.org/donors/search.html .

Individual donors can contribute any dollar amount to these and thousands of other projects nationwide at DonorsChoose.org. Once a project is completely funded, a team at DonorsChoose.org will purchase the requested materials and send them to the teacher.

All donors will receive photos of the project taking place, a thank-you letter from the teacher, and a cost report showing how each dollar was spent. Donors who gave more than $100 will also receive hand-written thank-you letters from the students.

Any public school teacher can post a project request at DonorsChoose.org; those projects aimed at college-readiness in high-need or rural high-schools may be eligible for the Double Your Impact match.

To view Mrs. Koschik's funded project request, please visit www.donorschoose.org/donors/proposal.html?id=258472 .

Founded in 2000, DonorsChoose.org is a nonprofit Web site where public school teachers describe specific educational projects for their students, and donors can choose the projects they want to support. After completing a project, the donor hears back from the classroom they supported in the

form of photographs and student thank-you letters.

To date, 109,000 public and charter school teachers have used the site to secure funding for $39 million in books, art supplies, technology, and other resources that their students need to learn. Through www.donorschoose.org , individuals from all walks of life have helped 2.5 million students from low-income families.

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Written by: Andrea McMullen

Published: 12 December 2009

 

 

Carlé's new Odyssey of the mind team created by principal Ed Zander is going to the Asian Art Museum on Dec. 18 to help prepare them for their upcoming competition.

The team includes Michelle Perry-Alden, Phoenix King, Christina Ortega, Rebecca Englander, Justin Boyce, Brooke Robb and Jonathan Truax. We hope you folks enjoy the trip and learn a lot.

The Carlé choir sang on Dec. 11 at Meadowood, the Konocti District Office and finally at Yuba College. The singers are Kara Boyce, Bianca Frias, Alex Von Rekowski, Geneva Hudson, Ittaly Heart, Jeremy Burton, Christine Mquown, Nia Frye-Edmonds, Shelby Saldana, Anthony Henson, Marissa

Robertson and Michelle Larue. Chaperoning and singing with the choir were our principal, Ed Zander, and teacher Dan Maes.

Carlé would like to thank Dr. Heidi Morgan for taking time out of her busy schedule to each week come and work with our choir and ultimately lead and perform with the school.

The student of the week was Stephani Cook. She won because she has good attendance, is a great student and has exceptional critical thinking skills. Congratulations and keep up the hard work.

Rian Summerfield of Nest Egg Investments in Kelseyville was presented with a plaque on Dec. 2 in front of Carlé's student body as a token of appreciation for all the effort and work he has put in on Carlé's behalf. He worked free of charge to invest $300,000 donated to Carlé High School by Russell Rustici.

The student fundraiser for an upcoming trip which will by led by Verna Rogers to the Shakespearian festival in Ashland, Ore., went very well.

Finally, Carlé's annual student white elephant gift exchange, also led by Verna Rogers, will occur on Dec. 18 before we go on break.

The gift exchange was designed so that each and every Carlé student receives a present during the holiday season.

Many of the Carlé staff members go out and buy extra gifts to make sure this is an exciting and happy time for all.

Carlé (and most other schools) will go on break on Dec. 18 for two weeks. We hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday and we will see you again in 2010.

Andrea McMullen is a student at Carlé Continuation High School in Lower Lake.