A small number of State College Area High School students no longer have to wait until the bell rings before they can head to their next class.
These few are part of a program at State College Area High School that sends students to the University Park campus for part of their school day to study alongside Penn State students.
The Career and Technical Center (CTC) has been active at the high school since 1991 but has gone through dramatic transitions during the last year and a half. The program had previously focused more exclusively on teaching technical trade skills to students, said Barry King, director of the CTC. Now, it also aims to help students plan their college careers and get a taste of life after high school.
"We have this major university next door here," King said. "We have to take advantage of the resources it provides."
The program begins preparing students for the college experience as early as ninth grade in order to "try to make a seamless transition into college coursework," King said.
The CTC focuses on grades nine to 16, King said, referring to college years as grades. Students in the CTC can take classes at the high school tailored to resem-
ble college material and coursework.
"The teachers are in constant contact with professors," CTC career counselor Tim Morgan said.
In the CTC, students are not able to take whichever course they would like but are directed to take those that will be particularly beneficial.
"Students have to go through certain courses, and then the instructor will give you approval to take Penn State courses during senior year," King said.
The Penn State courses really give meaning to the education they receive, King said. Students need to be interested in what they do in high school and want a reason for why they take classes, he said.
Kellie Forziat, a State College Area School District senior, is taking a clinical observation course that holds sessions at the Mount Nittany Medical Center. She hopes to be a dentist and plans to attend Penn State when she graduates.
"It's something I actually like to do," Forziat said. "I know clinical observation, for me, helps because you get that experience that you don't get in math class or health class necessarily."
Another example of the CTC in action is a program that incorporates high school students into some of the Smeal College of Business's 30 supply chain management programs, King said.
If a student participates in the CTC program and takes advanced placement classes in high school, it is possible to graduate with a whole semester or semester and a half of credit for college, King said.
The cost for the courses is the same rate as for any non-degree part-time student, King said.
In addition to the courses on campus, the CTC also uses the Penn State World Campus, which offers distance learning, and the Mount Nittany Medical Center, where high school students can take the clinical observation course.
