LYNNWOOD — After 30 years in retail, Robin Baroni figured it was time to give school another shot.
She has worked in grocery stores mainly, in the bakery, deli and seafood departments. All that time around food made her think about becoming a dietitian.
But that dream was blocked by insecurities that included a lack of math skills. That was before she enrolled at Edmonds Community College, before she took classes inside its newest building.
“My goals overcame my fears,” said Baroni, 51. “It’s just the fear that holds you back.”
The Everett woman has been working her way through pre-college math classes and is thankful for a pre-college math program that let her start from scratch in honing the skills she will need to earn a college diploma.
These days, Baroni is grateful for $14.5 million Mukilteo Hall, the newest building on the EdCC campus. It is a four-story, 15,000-square-foot structure that brings together an assortment of pre-college programs along with a 200-seat theater.
“Before we were just so cramped,” Baroni said. “This is just a better place to learn.”
Mukilteo Hall includes classrooms for completing high school, learning English as a second language and preparing for General Education Development or GED exams. There is a learning support center that provides tutoring in writing, math and other subjects and a room for a new volunteer program that connects local residents with students needing help with their studies.
The math lab is a haven for students such as Baroni who are learning to beat their math phobias with lectures and lab work.
Jason Price, 30, a Silver Lake resident, said the new math lab is a vast improvement.
“We are able to do so much more here,” Price said. “Before we couldn’t do lectures, because there wasn’t the space for it.”
Price wants to transfer to a four-year university to study psychology when he finishes at EdCC.
He will need to pass college-level math before he can do so. For Price, that meant starting in the lowest of the pre-college classes offered at EdCC.
“I just told myself that was part of life,” he said. “I had to start out on the bottom rung and work myself up again. I’m a lot more confident now.”
Paulette Botley, an EdCC math instructor, remembers getting to talk to architects six years ago to explain what she envisioned for the new Mukilteo Hall. Her hopes are now realized. She has flexible space for lectures, exams and one-on-one teaching in the math lab.
“It is a building built to fit our needs,” she said. “I have been teaching for over 30 years and have been here over 29 years. I’m so glad I lived long enough to see them open the building.”
Michelle Baga, 22, likes the new math center and the accessibility to get one-on-one instruction.
“This place is good for people who have never been good at math,” she said. “I am amazing myself with what I can do now.”
Brenda Hamilton, 35, said the old math lab was “like a cave with no windows, and it was dark. It’s a completely different feel in the classroom.”
She is taking college-level classes except for math.
Hamilton dropped out in the eighth grade. The single mother of a 6-year-old earned her GED at the college and is working toward a psychology degree.
“I want to set an example for my son so he goes straight to college,” she said.
Mukilteo Hall might be geared for pre-college courses, but many EdCC graduates will find their way into its classrooms. Roughly one in four of the college’s graduates needs to take a pre-college course along the way. And last year, 265 students graduated from the college’s high school completion program, and 117 of those went on to take college-level classes.
“It is a success to get the high school diploma, and it’s a success to take their pre-college level classes,” said Michelle Graves, an EdCC spokeswoman. “We want them to take that one success and build on it and Mukilteo Hall should help with that even more.”
Reporter Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446 or e-mail stevick@heraldnet.com.
The big debut for Mukilteo Hall
Edmonds Community College has scheduled a grand opening celebration for Mukilteo Hall from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday.
State Sen. Paull Shin will give a keynote address, and student Angela Moe will talk about her experience in high school completion classes and earning her associate of arts degree at the college.
Tours of the building will follow from 11:20 a.m. to 1 p.m.
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