Greene County Schools, LCC partner to offer Early College
Michael Abernethy, Staff Writer
May 25,2006
© The Free Press

SNOW HILL — Ivan Ponce knows a good deal when he sees one.

As one of 53 rising freshmen from Greene County going to Early College, a program at Lenoir Community College that begins next fall, the 15-year-old can earn both his high school diploma and a two-year associate’s degree in five years — for free.

“I thought it was a good way to get my education fast so I don’t have to struggle with paying too much in college,” said Ponce, who was selected from nearly 70 students to attend. He was also attracted to the program by the promise of small classes, each expected to be just more than 13 students.

Ponce enjoys math and would like to be a pilot, but he’s a slower reader than he’d like. The small classes in Early College make him feel like he’s getting the most of his education.

“When you’re in a big class, you don’t get to answer as many questions or get to ask as many questions as you need,” he said. “When you’re in a small group, you’ll be able to ask more questions and the teachers have more time to answer you.”

Greene’s program will be housed in the county’s LCC center, where Greene County Schools and LCC employees will team to graduate students with specific workplace skills.

“My main goal is that the students are better prepared to be able to move on in vocational technology or academic areas,” said John Paul Black, Greene County’s LCC Center director. “The whole focus behind this is to be able to identify students’ needs by having smaller, more community-based schools.”

The choice of courses and focused technical and vocational instruction are selling points for students, who are bored or feel left behind by traditional high school.

Anne Edwards said her son, Curtis, has become excited about school since he heard of and was accepted to the program.

“He is usually not that enthused about school. Most kids his age are not,” Edwards said. “When he got the letter of acceptance, I said to him, ‘Now you have to go.’ He said to me, ‘Mom, I didn’t fill out an application, write an essay and then go interview to say, ‘No, I don’t want to go.’ This might be the spark for some students.”

It’s also giving more choice to parents and students in a county with only one high school.

“I felt like most of the people who are at the college and have become a part of that program are serious about their education,” said Darius Shackleford, who helped his daughter Joy-vena enroll. “Her being around more mature people; it eliminates a lot of people who are not interested in education and bother people who are trying to get one.”

The county and college’s goal is to build a rigorous, college-level school that caters to students of industry and technology, said Pat MacNeil, Greene County Schools director of instructional programs.

“There’s no way a high school can duplicate what a community college has,” MacNeil said. “I think this is a way for school systems to optimize what they have.”

Michael Abernethy can be reached at (252) 527-3191, Ext. 232, or at mabernethy@freedomenc.com.