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St. James High School students earn credits for college - long distance

Posted on: Monday, 20 October 2003, 06:00 CDT

VACHERIE - Six seniors at St. James High School are getting a lot more out of their high-school years than just a diploma and fond memories.

By the time they graduate in May, the six will have earned eight hours of college credit in chemistry without ever having to set foot on a college campus.

Professor Glenn Lo, the acting head of the department, and Professor James Beck created the distance-learning chemistry courses at the request of the chemical industry in south Louisiana.

Plant managers wanted their staff laboratory technicians to complete a two-year degree program in Chemical Laboratory Technology without disrupting their full-time job schedules.

Nicholls State University created the program with PowerPoint presentations and videos, enabling plant workers to take the courses via computers at their workplaces.

Kermit Gauthreaux, who teaches chemistry and physics at both St. James High School and NSU, suggested using the chemistry courses from the lab tech program to teach qualified high school students. Gauthreaux proposed a pilot program using students at St. James High School.

To take part in the college chemistry course, high-school students were required to have completed High School Chemistry I, be enrolled in High School Chemistry II, maintain a B average, and have a composite score of 20 on the American College Test.

Irvin Williams, one of the students enrolled in NSU's Chemistry 105, said that, initially, he was nervous about taking an online college class.

"I understood chemistry on the high school level, but I wasn't sure if I would be able to handle it at the college level," Williams said. "But it hasn't been that hard. We spend only about four hours a week on it right now."

Dustin Stein, another of the St. James High students in the college chemistry class, said he hasn't found the college chemistry much tougher than his high school chemistry.

"The college chemistry lecture class is just a little more challenging than the high school chemistry class, mostly because we're doing it on our own, on the computer," said Stein, who plans to major in chemical engineering in college.

Stein said he really appreciates the opportunities that the St. James School Board is providing for him. Between the college chemistry classes at NSU and other courses he is taking at River Parishes Community College, Stein will graduate from high school with 26 hours of college credits. That's almost sufficient to complete all his freshman class requirements.

NSU is offering its chemistry courses to the high school at a greatly reduced rate, with the St. James Parish School Board footing the bill for the six students taking the classes.

Beck said he has been overwhelmed by the effort he has seen from the students.

"This is the first time we have tried this at a high school, and the amazing thing is, these youngsters at St. James are outperforming our regular college students," Beck said.

"When these students start college, they will have a real head start when it comes to qualifying for acceptance into medical school or other graduate programs that require a background in chemistry," Beck said.

Based on the results from this pilot program, Beck said he would like to see the college chemistry courses made available to high schools throughout the area served by NSU.

The pilot program was funded through a one-year, $30,000 grant from the Louisiana Board of Regents Distance Education Initiative. NSU is now applying for additional funding in order to implement the lab portion of the program.

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