Dual Enrollment Program at RACC

BBEC Executive Director Terri Hill’s conversation with Kristen Marcinko, Director of Academic Partnerships at Reading Area Community College; Aaron Sborz, Principal, Daniel Boone Area High School; and Brianna Bodolus, Daniel Boone HS Student.

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:12

Hello and welcome to another episode of the Burks Business Education Coalition, where we highlight programs, partnerships, and people that prepare our students for their life after graduation. Today I'm really another I always say I'm excited, but yes, I am excited for every guest I have. And we have a great group today to highlight a program where Reading Area Community College partners with our high schools to introduce and help our students get a head start and jumpstart on college. So what I'll do is I will ask each of our guests to introduce themselves and also to share their career journey and when we're gonna talk about her potential career journey. And just so those our listeners can kind of get an idea of what kind of trajectory you had to get to the position you're in. So Kristen, I'm gonna start with you. If you want to tell us who you are, what you do, that would be great.

SPEAKER_02 1:04

Sure. Kristen Marcinko, Director of Academic Partnerships at Reading Area Community College. At the college, I oversee all of our early college programs, and I also work with our articulation agreements with our four-year partners. My undergrad was in psychology. I did work a year in HR, kind of determined that was not for me. Then I went back for my master's and earned my master's in education and secondary counseling, and then I was a high school counselor for 12, 13 years before I jumped into higher ed. Oh fantastic. Thank you.

SPEAKER_03 1:38

And Mr. Spores over there in the corner.

SPEAKER_01 1:40

Hello, how are you? I'm doing it. My journey to being a principal was not linear. I started out in business administration at uh Luzerne County Community College, uh. Ultimately taking some classes and doing some odd jobs, and then realizing uh that I wanted to go to be a technology education teacher, which led me to Millersville University where I completed my bachelor's. Uh from there I completed my master's in sport and athletic administration through Westchester, and then realized that I wasn't necessarily uh wanting to be an athletic director or go down that path. So I continued teaching. And then ultimately in 2009, um, with the economy the way it was, I completed my principal certification, and then the opportunity at Daniel Boone uh presented itself. Uh I went there to be the assistant principal at the high school and then was the assistant principal for four years before becoming principal, and I've been the principal now for uh seven years.

SPEAKER_03 2:39

That's exciting, but I want to ask one quick question because I thought I heard you say you were a technology, you were in a CTC. So what did you teach? What was your program that you taught there?

SPEAKER_01 2:48

So I taught a few things. I taught audio visual uh creation, which we had a studio much like the one we're sitting in, uh, so that was entertaining. Uh web design back with uh certain programs like Dreamweaver, that was over 10 years ago, creating websites. Um I also taught graphic design for a year, a little few classes in that. And then materials was the big one where I taught um anywhere from ferris to non-ferris materials, welding, um, woodworking to metalworking for about 13 years before leaving the classroom.

SPEAKER_03 3:19

Just a quick comment. I don't think they don't feel like they go together. Like I feel like part of it was very much marketing driven, and then the other part was more skill trade driven. So anyway, well, it's wonderful to see. And I did not know about your journey, so I really appreciate that. And then we have our student, which I'm so really grateful that she took the time to join us today. So, Brianna, if you want to introduce yourself, and then I know you don't know exactly what you think you're gonna do, but you have an idea of what you're gonna do. So you want to share that with us?

SPEAKER_00 3:47

Yeah, of course. So I'm currently a student at Daniel Boone High School, and then after I graduate, I plan to go to college to major in biology and neuroscience on the pre-med track. And then after college, I plan to go to medical school and then hopefully be a pediatric neuroradiologist.

SPEAKER_03 4:04

Wow. Okay, you like kids, huh? Yeah, yeah. Oh, God bless you. Okay, good for you. Um so one of the first things I want to uh talk about is the basics of what is a dual enrollment program, because that's what we're going to focus on today. Um, I know there's a lot of uh different colleges that offer dual enrollment, and so you know, Kristen, I'm gonna ask you just to explain what that looks like. And there are really some unique uh characteristics of how Reading Erie Community College structures it. So what and I have shared this with you, I've talked to counselors, and they feel like the way you have it structured just opens the door and gives more opportunities to the students than any of the other programs currently available. So if you can kind of tell us a little bit about what dual enrollment is and then kind of say a little bit about how uh RAC structures it.

SPEAKER_02 4:54

Sure. Um so our dual enrollment program is taking an approved college-level course in the high school during the regular school day with the instructors that are there at the high school. So for students, it's extremely convenient. They're already taking the class and they can apply for the college credit at the beginning of that school year for that particular course. There is some approval that has to go in the works ahead of time. So as RAC is approving the instructors, we're aligning the course to a RAC course. So the teachers have to go through an approval process, they do have to meet the same credentials as an instructor would on our campus. Um, and then we align the courses. So as long as there is a course at the high school that aligns to a RAC course, any RAC course, um, we can approve that for dual enrollment. So we have partnerships with 17 public high schools in the county. We also have partnerships with two private schools and the two CTCs. So the offerings at every school are a little bit different. It has to do with the classes, it has to do with sometimes the the teachers, who has the approvals, who has the credentials to teach those particular classes. So every school is going to look a little bit different. Bree's in a great situation because Daniel Boone has a vast number of offerings every year, so students can take advantage of those opportunities. But it's really just having the courses in the high schools that are aligned to college-level courses, and then the students pay for that credit at the beginning of the year. It is $99 a credit, so it is a significantly lower tuition cost than our standard tuition. So that that's how the program works.

SPEAKER_03 6:45

And are most courses like three credits?

SPEAKER_02 6:48

Most courses are three credits. Um there's some higher-level math courses, some science with labs that are four, but for the most part, it's three three credits at the $99 a credit, $297 for a three-credit course, $396 for a four-credit course, and there are no additional fees. So there's no fees that we charge dual enrollment students.

SPEAKER_03 7:07

Okay, fantastic. So just to go back, dual enrollment is a program where colleges partner or allow access to high school students to earn college credits, right? So you have a unique one where you actually accredit different programs or or courses that are already taught at the high school. Okay. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 7:27

Yeah, we approve the courses and we approve the instructors for that particular course. It is at the high school during the regular school day.

SPEAKER_03 7:34

Yes, and I know that's very appealing. So, Mr. Spores, okay. So you want to tell me a little bit about maybe what Daniel Boone's uh dual enrollment, how many courses, what how what grade level can they start taking these courses? What does it look like there?

SPEAKER_01 7:49

So uh you can start your freshman year of high school, you can take a dual enrollment course as a as a freshman or a senior. Uh it's open by course, not by grade. Um of the higher level courses that we have are dual enrolled, um, but we also have some electives that are dual enrolled as well. So kids don't have to necessarily take a dual enrollment in a major area such as math, science, English. We have them in the arts, we have them in our PE department. So kids can really pick and choose what works for them. Uh the thing about the dual enrollment program is you can use it to achieve a degree, like Brie and some of her classmates are doing, uh through RAC, or if you have an end goal in mind, you can use it to get credits that are going to go towards that four-year degree as well. Um we've really kind of, as Ms. Marsenko said, uh chosen the courses that align to a RAC course, and then we began investigating. So we you know look at syllabi, we look at our instructors' credentials, and we really investigate uh could we get this dual enrolled, and then also could we get the teacher uh approved through RAC. And if that is the case, then we go down that path and do all the necessary paperwork to have that done. So currently we're about 33 courses, uh individual courses within uh Daniel Boone that students can take for dual enrollment. Um a lot of we we have our many of our art classes, but kids don't always need four or five, six art classes for their majors. Typically you need one in the humanities, so it's important to recognize exactly what's needed for your career path and then pick and choose which dual enrollment satisfies your needs for your life path. Um but last year I think we had a little over a thousand credits worth of uh college credits gained by our senior class. Um and this year I have to expect it's gonna be just about that much because we you know the kids, the families are starting to learn the program and see how they can use it to benefit themselves. Um, and they're taking advantage of it.

SPEAKER_03 9:51

That's that's really powerful, but probably the most powerful story here is Breeze. So Bree, uh, do you want to share a little bit about you know how you learned about the dual enrollment? Um, what made you start the process, and you've been committed, like you have taken a lot of dual enrollment courses, which will is allowing you to do something really unique and we'll let you share what that is, um, before you even graduate from high school. So if you want to share a little bit about how you started, you know, what made you commit to it, and then what's that little neat thing that you have going on at the end of this year, that would be really cool.

SPEAKER_00 10:25

Yeah, of course. So during my freshman year, probably in the beginning, I was introduced to the dual enrollment program, and I think that there was a meeting in my high school that happened and it was just kind of introduced. Um, and I realized that most of the courses that I was already taking and planning to take were dual enrolled. And I thought that it was really cool that I could already start my like college process in high school. And um I started really pursuing it in my sophomore year because I actually started to realize that these credits were gonna be the classes that I was gonna take in college. And um so I took I dual enrolled all the courses that I took during my sophomore year, and then I took some in the summer as well, just to get a head start. And then um I took more my junior year as well as two online courses throughout the year, and also more in the summer, and then I took more my senior year, and then I'll graduate with my associate's degree in May. See, did you hear that?

SPEAKER_03 11:22

She graduates with an associate's degree in May. And when is graduation for high school? June. Oh, June, okay. So you're gonna have your associate's degree before you actually have your high school diploma. Yeah. That is that is really fantastic. Now, the one thing that you did uh talk about, and I I would love to understand it a little bit better, because we talked about how a lot of this program and the power of the program is that it's offered within the classroom, right? So you're already in school, but you said you've taken some online courses as well as summer courses. And I don't think you're going to school in the summer, right? You're not going to Daniel Boone. Okay. So can you explain, you know, was that just independent? Um, and and that was your own doing, so it wasn't something that you waited for Daniel Boone to do. So how you know how do how were you aware of what that opportunity was?

SPEAKER_00 12:07

Yeah, so that was definitely my own doing. Um I took online courses directly from RAC, and I didn't have to attend in person. And during probably like midway through the year, I contacted Kristen to uh like talk about any c courses that I could take online over the summer to earn some extra course credits, sorry. Um so I took about, I think it was two courses through my sophomore summer, and then I took three or four courses over the past summer.

SPEAKER_03 12:37

Oh, fantastic. So, Kristen, this leads me to a question. So it sounds like obviously Brie was able to reach out to you. So are there counselors or people available within uh Reading Area Community College that are able to help these students guide and select what they're going to be studying?

SPEAKER_02 12:54

Um so for high school students, that would be me. So I advise the high school students individually. We also have an admissions counselor for early college programs, so the two of us advise students on coursework. So what Bree was talking about is taking the dual enrollment during the school year, but a lot of students choose to supplement classes and continue taking courses during the winter and over the summer. We have been the past couple of years offering a scholarship for dual enrollment students where if they take dual enrollment during the school year, we will give them the dual enrollment rate over the summer for up to two classes. So they're able to still get that $99 a credit. Our standard tuition right now is $221 a credit, so you can tell the $99 is it is a cost savings to the family. But that's what a lot of students do. They take dual enrollment during the school year, especially those students that are wanting to go for their associate's degree, because some of the most of the courses at Boone can be earned in the high school. A lot of other schools might not have that many offerings, so the students do choose to come to RAC. The cool thing too about that's our early admissions program. The cool thing about that is our entire course catalog is open to the students. Where dual enrollment is there's a list of classes in the high school that they can take coming to RAC. As long as they meet the prerequisite for the course, they're able to take any of our courses. So they're able to get exposed to a site course or an intro to social work or a foundations of ed course or something that they might be interested in and just kind of want to get a little taste of it while they're in high school, they can be taking those as well at RAC, either in person or online.

SPEAKER_03 14:36

So one thing about that is typically would they need to be juniors or seniors in order to qualify for that, or can it be, I know you started your journey in freshman year. How soon could they do the online?

SPEAKER_02 14:48

Um there we do not have an age or a grade requirement. It all has to do with college readiness. So when a student applies, um, I will review their academic transcript, um, look at GPA, look at dual enrollment courses maybe that they've taken, or some AP courses, something to show college readiness, and then we would advise them individually. If a student doesn't have other measures, they would placement test, and that could place them college level. High school students do have to place college level to take classes at RAC, in person or online, they can't take developmental. But if they don't have any of the other measures, we would placement test the student to meet that. That's wonderful.

SPEAKER_03 15:26

Thank you. Now, so Brie, we talked about this. So you're gonna be going into a four-year program, but you have an associate's degree. So what does that get you? So when you enter your college or university, where will you be? What will you be called?

SPEAKER_00 15:42

So technically I'd be coming in as a junior, um, and that's if all of my credits transfer and they should. Um, and then I'll only have two years of college.

SPEAKER_03 15:54

So that's good and bad. We talked about this too as well. But that's wonderful that you get too fast track because I know you wanted to extend your um education anyway beyond bachelor's, so that's really great. Now, we talked about your very unique situation where you got your associate's degree, and I know, Mr. Spores, you have not only Brie, but you've had more. So can you talk about how many students you've had take advantage of the program? And I think you've been probably the school that has done this the most, right? Have provided the most.

SPEAKER_01 16:22

Yeah, so we um over the few first few years we got this program started back um prior to me becoming principal is when the program started, and then we've just continued to grow it as you know the years have gone on. Um, our first few years we had one student each uh year for about three years complete this, achieve their associate's degree prior to graduating high school and going on their journey using the credits uh in the path that they've chosen. And then it was last year, was the first time we we had three students from a single class, the class of 2025. Uh there were three out of the five that have done it in the county. And then this year uh we went a little beyond that. Uh the class of 26 is a little competitive, uh, and there's going to be seven students from the class of 2026 at Danny Boone Area High School that will be walking across the stage at the Santander Arena with their associate's degree approximately a month before they walk across the stage at Danny Boone High School and uh get their diplomas for from me. So that is huge considering we grew we're gonna graduate just around 245 students. Um that's a large percentage of that class that's that's been able to achieve this. Uh and talking with Bree, it's I think they, you know, a little bit of teamwork. Um they worked together to make sure they were, you know, um collaboratively uh working as a team to uh support each other and make sure that they were able to achieve this together. But seven of them will walk across the stage this year.

SPEAKER_03 17:57

One of the um I think amazing, by the way. Um one of the things that you touched on was the cost effectiveness, right? The cost savings, because there's been so much um light shown on the expense and we know it's an investment, and we know that college people with college degrees have a lifetime's earnings potential much greater than people who do not. But there's still a depending on where you go, there's it's quite a a big chunk of change that you're talking about that you you end up with loans. But for your frack with the with the associate's degree paying $99 a credit, and I think you said that's how many credits do you have? Or how many I will have 76.

SPEAKER_00 18:41

76 credits.

SPEAKER_03 18:43

Okay. 60 is for the associate's degree. 60 for the associate's degree. Okay. So 60 credits for the associate's degree. Kristen, can you do math? What is what is appropriate the approximate this?

SPEAKER_02 18:55

No, no, I can't.

SPEAKER_03 18:57

It's it's it's I want to say I I think there were, and I'm gonna go back to billboards. I think the the billboards in general said that a RAC education is about 20 percent of the cost of a four-year college.

SPEAKER_02 19:11

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 19:11

Is that is that correct?

SPEAKER_02 19:13

Yep. All the billboards, eight RAC's tuition is eighty percent less than the twenty percent.

unknown 19:17

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 19:18

Yep. We'll do that. We'll do we'll we'll play with the math. Um but this is even less expensive or more of a bargain because it's ha even half the price of that, right? So it's about 10 percent, we'll just say something like that. So I think you know, financially it just makes good sense and it gives you a good idea of of what a college, you know, is going to be. So has there been Bray, any other benefits you have seen? You know, because now you're getting exposed to um, you know, a college maybe at an earlier time, you're thinking a little bit more forward as opposed to just in your high school years. What other benefits have you seen by taking college classes earlier in your in your high school?

SPEAKER_00 20:03

I've definitely seen a lot of benefits. I mean, just starting from when I was a freshman, I kind of got introduced to like the college curriculum and then taking the online courses over summer. Like I got used to the assignments and like just kind of the process of taking the course and like completing the assignments on a college level, um, as well with other college students that are also either in the same process that I am or like on the same pathway that I am. Um and it was just kind of cool to see like the difference between a college course and a high school course, and it really helped prepare me, I think, and I think it will help prepare me for college.

SPEAKER_03 20:43

I really love that because I think I I the most jarring thing for me going from high school to college is really college basically assumes you're gonna take responsibility for your education and it's up to you to show up, it's up to you to study. They're not gonna hold your hand and um and follow up with you. I mean in in high school the teachers are there to really help, and they're they're much more um involved, I would say. But in in most colleges, there's a little bit more of a um of an uh responsibility put on the student. Like you it's up to you to do the work, we're not gonna do it for you. It's up to you to study for the classes, we're not gonna do that for you. We're not gonna hound you for homework, we're not going to check your assignments, we're not gonna do any of that. And I feel like the especially the online courses, because it was outside of the high school setting, may have given you that a little bit a taste of what it's like to be to be responsible by yourself. I think I think that it's fabulous. Um so I know we're gonna be getting close to wrap-up, so I want to make sure I give you each an opportunity to share. Is there something that I haven't highlighted or asked about that you would like to share with our viewers or listeners? So we'll start with uh Kristen.

SPEAKER_02 22:00

Um, I just one of the things I wanted to highlight was just with with Bree's program, the students that are going towards their associate's degree, they are following RAC's programs. So any student that wants to, um, whether it's a psychology degree, um, education, the associates, she's doing the integrative study studies, um, they're following our program. So for transferability, that's that's the best opportunity for transferability. They're in our program, they're transfer programs. Half of the program is general education. So we follow a framework that they're taking a public speaking, they're taking an English comp, they're taking two social studies, two sciences. So to be able to transfer those credits onto a four-year school, which is a goal of about 75% of our students, is to go on to that four-year school. Um, so I think the advising piece is really important that students that are interested, whether it's you want to take three credits or you want to take 60 credits, just being educated, knowing what classes I should be taking, how they're gonna transfer into what school, that's part of our role as well. Um, so I think that's just something that's really important for students as they're taking these classes, just to have that education behind it. So when it's all said and done, it it it was the best thing for them to do at that time.

SPEAKER_03 23:20

So I love that. And I'm gonna ask Brie, so even though I'm telling you, we were gonna tell me what I missed. I'm gonna still ask a follow-up question to what Kristen uh just alluded to. I I feel like most students become aware of the dual enrollment and then they kind of, you know, just pick the coursework within the school to say this is what I want to do. But you went beyond and you said I'm going to earn an associate's degree. So was that something that was highlighted through your counselors, or how did you learn about the associate opportunity at RAC?

SPEAKER_00 23:50

Yeah, so it was definitely highlighted through my counselor, and she brought it up to me when she heard that I was trying to do the dual enrollment and everything, and she mentioned the opportunity. So yeah. Fantastic. Okay, so I'm gonna skip you real quick.

SPEAKER_03 24:03

We'll go over to Mr. Sport. So what is it that you think you know you would like to highlight or something that I maybe didn't didn't touch on about the program?

SPEAKER_01 24:12

Yeah, I think the biggest thing is the families, like just so they know. Because like starting out in the beginning, um when we first promoted this program, we had a handful of courses. Um, we might have had a handful of families taking advantage of this opportunity. And then as the years have progressed and we've put together presentations and we've done parent nights and we've done presentations to the kids and class meetings. And once the families start understanding the program and using it to their advantage, they're your biggest sellers because they're gonna sell it to their friends, they're gonna sell it to their families, um, and then the program takes on a life of its own and it just starts growing. So I think the the biggest thing that we can all do is not only promote it, but teach it so that the families, the parents who might not be in education, might not know uh exactly how to use the program become self-aware on how they can use it for their path. Because everyone's path is different. Some kids take five classes and that might be all they want or need for their path. Uh other students complete the associate's degree. Um, other students go way beyond and just get as many credits as they can because that's what they want for their particular path. So just getting the knowledge out there so that people become comfortable with the program and how they can use it to satisfy their needs for the future.

SPEAKER_03 25:28

I love that. Really quickly, is there going to be any special recognition at the high school ceremony, acknowledging the associate degree people?

SPEAKER_01 25:36

Yes, when they walk across the stage, it is announced that they have already achieved their associate's degree.

SPEAKER_03 25:41

Oh, I I was thinking like some kind of fireworks confetti or something. No? Not not that big. Okay. Depending on the weather. Okay. I'm just, you know, throwing it out there.

SPEAKER_02 25:52

We usually do try to bring all the students to campus. We do a photo shoot. We have some news coverage, so we we do try to make a very big deal about it because it is an amazing accomplishment. It is.

SPEAKER_01 26:02

Possibly national news this year. Because I think this will be the most ever. I think this year's number of graduates uh exceeds all years combined prior. Close.

SPEAKER_03 26:13

That's fantastic. Brie. Do you want to anything else that you'd like to share with us about your experience with the dual enrollment or that you would maybe like uh other students to know um regarding the program?

SPEAKER_00 26:24

Yeah. I mean, I think overall it's just an amazing opportunity for anyone that's looking to go to college. Um, even if you're not looking to achieve your associate's degree, even just earning a few credits will help kind of bring the course load for college down a little bit, and I think it's just really amazing. And you have a great support system at RAC to help you through it.

SPEAKER_03 26:43

Well, thank you so much for joining us today. I understand you're in the middle of uh finding your next college, right? So uh good luck with that. Thank you. And I want to thank Mr. Spores, I want to thank uh Kristen Marcinko, and of course you for joining us today. Um, at the BBEC, we have a mission of connecting our business, our uh nonprofit partners, our organizations uh with our education. And I am so grateful for you joining us today and sharing some of the really unique and um opportunities that our students have in order to get their jump start and their next step in life. Thank you so much. Thank you.