PORT ANGELES — Peninsula College was recently awarded $149,700 from College Spark Washington as part of an annual, competitive statewide community grants program.
The grant supports a redesign of how the college teaches and supports college-level math and English, including approaches to pre-college math and English courses, said Bruce Hattendorf, dean for Arts and Sciences, in an email.
He said the goal is to contextualize math and English by a student’s area of study and reduce the number of pre-college courses students need to take, shortening the pathway to college-level courses.
“We are excited to develop ways to shorten student pathways through pre-college English and math and to make students’ college-level learning in these areas more meaningful and effective,” Hattendorf said.
“What’s more, the grant will foster collaborative discussions among faculty on how courses in our curriculum can work together and build skills over time and across disciplines, with learning outcomes contextualized to student areas of interest and end transfer and career goals.”
The grant is part of a competitive statewide Community Grants Program focused on building the effectiveness of schools working with low-income students.
It’s part of $1.5 million in total grant funds that were dispersed to schools across the state as part of College Spark Washington’s Community Grants Program.
Peninsula College was among 12 grantees across the state.
“We believe that contextualizing math and English courses to specific areas of study will increase persistence and enhance student success, particularly with historically underserved and first generation students,” said Luke Robins, Peninsula College president.
“Our goal is to accelerate transition of students to college level course work.”
Peninsula College received a previous Community Grant for $149,989 for the High Support Accelerated Learning Project and a $500,000 grant funded by College Spark Washington and the Washington State Board of Community and Technical Colleges for the Guided Pathways Project.
The college operates branch campuses in Forks and Port Townsend as well as the main campus in Port Angeles.
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Reporter Jesse Major can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56250, or at jmajor@peninsuladailynews.com.
