PRESIDENT’S REPORT | June 2014
Campus walking trails get new markers
Gia Jurczyk’s equivalency score qualified her to apply for a SCC Board of Trustees scholarship. She was selected and her tuition will be covered for four semesters. She will begin the pre-engineering transfer program at SCC in the fall.
Following recognition ceremony, students make a new start High school did not come easy for Gia Jurczyk, the oldest of six children. “I was more concerned with whether my brothers and sisters had food than what the teacher was saying,” said Jurczyk. “When I came home, I spent my time helping take care of my siblings, and homework rarely crossed my mind. School simply wasn’t a priority.” Jurczyk got a job to help support her family and eventually dropped out of high school to work more hours. A month before her 18th birthday, she gave birth to a baby girl and spent years working as a single mom. After she got married and her children grew older she decided she wanted more for herself, so she enrolled in SCC’s High School Equivalency (HSE) program. On Wednesday, June 11, Jurczyk, was honored with 89 other students during a recognition ceremony for the Adult Education and Literacy (AEL) program at SCC. Some 65 students were recognized for receiving their High School Equivalency
credential, and 25 students were acknowledged for their achievement, improvement and attendance in the English as a Second Language (ESL) program. Five students were honored for becoming U.S. citizens. During the 2013-14, more than 180 SCC students received their HSE credentials and some 450 SCC students from 58 countries took part in the ESL program. The GED test expired Dec. 31. On Jan. 2, Missouri began offering the High School Equivalency Test (HiSET). The SCC Adult Education and Literacy program teaches basic reading, math and writing skills to prepare people to take the HiSET (formerly GED) tests and to assist nonnative speakers in gaining English proficiency. The program extends to four counties (St. Charles, Warren, Lincoln and Pike), and free day and evening classes are available online. For more information about the AEL program at SCC, call 636-922-8411 or visit stchas.edu/ael.
Walking your way to health over the paths of the beautiful 235-acre SCC campus just got easier. New trail markers embellish the on-campus walking trails thanks to the Employee Sponsored Program (ESP). Over the years, ESP helped to fund the construction of many parts of the walking paths as well as the convenient trail markers that guide walkers within the boundaries of the SCC campus. There are multiple options for those who want to walk the grounds of the college campus. Walkers can start on each trail at any point, and all three trails have easy access to the trail head marker near the Child Development Center and Technology Building. Lengths of the trails are .33 mile, 1-mile and 1.5 miles.