At 16, Doug Royea suffered from depression and felt high school was “not the place for me.”
Searching for a positive alternative, he enrolled in Running Start at Shoreline Community College, but that “just wasn’t it” either.
Frustrated and lost, Royea, now 20, finally found what he had been searching for and he didn’t have to go far: SCC’s Career Education Options (CEO) program fit the bill.
Now, with his first quarter successfully behind him, Royea is hopeful and looking forward to a career in writing.
“A lot of people say that if you don’t get a high school degree, it’s over for you. But CEO changes that,” Royea said.
His only regret is not having made the choice earlier.
“I wish I knew about this four years ago,” Royea said.
For Royea and many of the almost 500 students enrolled in the program this quarter, CEO is a saving grace. Through funding from the state and local government, students ages 16 to 21 who drop out of high school can earn their GED and a college diploma in one of about 50 professional and technical areas the college offers for little or no cost. Tuition, books and supplies are all covered through the program, and additional support services such as food and housing are available for students who qualify through the King County Worker Training program.
But the program is not for everyone, CEO officials said.
“The typical student is really behind in credits and has no chance of finishing on time,” said CEO director Mariko Kakiuchi.
CEO instructor Will Dowd added, “All our students have one thing in common: that they didn’t finish high school, and the similarities really stop there. A high percentage of the men have been through the juvenile justice system and have been involved with drugs … we see young mothers … and some have had a difficult home life and a hard time in school.”
Since its inception in 1995, CEO’s success and enrollment numbers have continued to grow: with a starting enrollment of 152 students, the program now serves approximately 425 on-campus students this quarter and 274 students have earned their GEDs since 1997.
The program last year was named “one of the best dropout prevention programs in the nation” by the National Dropout Prevention Network.
Though students cannot participate in the program after their 22nd birthday, many qualify for financial aid and continue their studies at the college.
“I have a whole folder of transcripts of students who have aged out or graduated and continued at SCC even if they couldn’t be funded by our program,” Kakiuchi said.
Lettoya Soler, 19, knows that story first-hand.
When Soler became pregnant during her junior year of high school, she chose to drop out to take care of her baby. After Mya, now 18 months old, was born, Soler was forced to move to a shelter where she learned about the CEO program.
“It’s not as demanding as high school … and without CEO I wouldn’t be able to take classes because they’re very expensive for me,” Soler said.
Soler graduated with her GED in June 2003, and currently is studying accounting at the college.
Dowd said Soler is a shining example of what students can achieve through CEO.
“I look at Lettoya and I see the reason I’m here,” he said.
For more information about Shoreline Community College’s Career Education Options program, call 206-546-7844.
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