Luke Degenhart, a 2018 Daniel Boone High School graduate, already earned his Associate of Science degree from RACC, and is on his way to Alvernia University to complete a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry with a minor in environment. Luke attended RACC on the Presidential Scholarship, a full-tuition scholarship for four semesters. He will attend Alvernia University with a $17,000 award in spring 2020.

Luke began taking dual enrollment courses in his junior year at Daniel Boone High School. These college-level courses are taught by approved high school faculty during the regular school day. He earned 14 credits at his high school and took online courses with RACC during his summers. He earned 26 college credits before graduating from high school.

Because of his Presidential Scholarship Award and Alvernia University’s generous transfer policy, Luke will take another four courses, post-associate degree, at RACC and one at Alvernia University this fall - all courses counting toward his bachelor’s. Already considered a junior in college, Luke has incurred very little debt by taking advantage of dual enrollment and dual admissions with RACC’s strong transfer partners. 

Much of Luke’s strategy for earning his degrees has been to “get his foot in the door” early, easing the transition to taking college-level courses. He says, “Dual enrollment helped me get a step ahead of my classmate and prepared me to be a chem major.”

He also credits RACC’s supportive staff in helping him navigate his debt-free, accelerated college pathway. Jane Dietrich, senior advisor/transfer specialist worked with RACC’s good partner, Brett Krotee, undergraduate transfer coordinator, to ensure all his courses fit his program. When Luke had some life concerns affecting his academic work, he says, “Dan Glass, [senior advisor], really helped me out when I needed some help with finishing my spring classes.” 

As he reflects on his college journey of dual enrollment into earning an associate degree with RACC, Luke says, “I struggled at first with the dual enrollment courses, but by the time I got to RACC, I never got a B as a grade again.” 

“Dual enrollment started at Daniel Boone my sophomore year, my Dad found out about it and signed me up for courses my junior year, Trigonometry, Chemistry I, and Chemistry II.” 

Now a chemistry major, Luke will tackle organic chemistry this fall. He’s academically ready, he’s ahead of his class, and he has relied on RACC to help him figure out how to earn a bachelor’s without taking on massive student debt.

Learn more about RACC's dual enrollment program

Reading, PA – On August 20, 2019, Reading Area Community College (RACC) President Dr. Susan Looney and Kutztown University of Pennsylvania President Dr. Kenneth Hawkinson signed an agreement for Kutztown University (KU) to teach a Bachelor of Science in Education (BSED) with Prek-4 Teacher Certification program at Reading Area Community College’s (RACC) campus starting fall 2020.  

The agreement frames a teacher certification pathway through leveraging Berks County public institutions, Reading Area Community College, Kutztown University, Reading Muhlenberg Career and Technology Centers, and Berks Career and Technology Center and addresses workforce projections for qualified early childhood teachers in the region.
Students will be able to begin taking college courses this fall at the Career Technology Centers (CTC) through the Teacher Academy, a college-credit bearing career pathway in CTC Early Childhood Education taught at both CTC’s. Students will be able to complete their AAS in Early Childhood Teaching in a year after graduating from high school before transitioning to Kutztown University’s BSED (PreK-4 Certification) program offered at RACC’s campus. At the center of these agreements, which creates a seamless pathway from the CTC’s to Kutztown University, are the students who graduate from RACC’s AAS Early Childhood Teaching program and need an accessible and affordable pathway to better employment opportunities through earning a  Bachelor of Science in Education in the community where they live, work, and raise their families. 

“The BSED at RACC’s campus will help our students achieve their career goals and help our community with well-trained early childhood teachers. These students want to stay in Berks County and teach our very youngest students in Berks County. To partner with the Career Technology Centers so high school students can begin their career programs with college credit helps accelerated the pathway to completion,” says Dr. Susan Looney. 

For more information about KU – BSED Cohort starting fall 2020 at RACC’s campus, please contact Jim Garraway, KU’s Assistant Director of Transfer Admissions, 610.683.4787. For more information about the Teacher Academy contact Jodi Corbett, director of academic partnerships/special assistant to the president, 610.607.6219.

Written by Karen Shuey/ReadingEagle

Muhlenberg Township, PA — Muhlenberg High School Principal Michael Mish has experienced some uncomfortable silences.

Those silences usually come when it has been painfully clear that the parents staring at him have no clue what he has been attempting to tell them. He offers a smile and then they wait. They wait for someone who can help them move past the barricade that separates those who only speak English from those who only speak Spanish.

"We know how important it is for parents to be engaged in the education of their children, so when you can't communicate with them about that it creates barriers," he said. "Those uncomfortable silences can be embarrassing because you know they want to be there to help, but you have nothing you can say to them."

And with Latinos now making up more than half of the Muhlenberg School District student population, those silences have become much more frequent over the last several years. 

So when Mish heard the district was partnering with Reading Area Community College to offer a Spanish program this summer to school administrators and their support staff he said he embraced the opportunity.

"I may never become fluent in Spanish but understanding more about the language and the culture will help make those interactions more comfortable for me and for the parents," he said. "It's a lot easier to communicate with someone when you have an appreciation for where they come from."

Mish was not alone in his enthusiasm for learning.

He was one of about 30 faculty members across the district who took the course. They spent the last several weeks learning and speaking basic words and phrases, researching Spanish-speaking countries, tasting the local cuisine from those countries and listening to the experiences of those who lived in those countries.

Lori Morris, an assistant high school principal, said she's hoping those bilingual skills and cultural experiences will come in handy when it comes to building relationships with those students and parents who can sometimes feel isolated because of the language barrier.

"We have to walk the walk and talk the talk," she said. "Our students and parents are going to appreciate the fact that we are making an effort. I think the effort to better understand them is what really matters to them."

Reading, PA – On July 24, Drexel University President John Fry toured the Schmidt Training and Technology Center’s state-of-the-art STEM labs with Reading Area Community College President Dr. Susan Looney and RACC Board Chair, Guido Pichini. While touring the labs, Dr. Looney and Mr. Fry discussed expanding RACC’s academic partnership with Drexel, which is one of RACC’s top fifteen transfer schools.

RACC graduates can attend Drexel’s campus programs as well as complete their bachelor’s degrees through Drexel’s Online Professional Studies programs. Students considering where to continue their education after RACC may find the decision to be stressful — with so many details, deadlines, and decisions. To help them navigate the process, transfer specialists at RACC and Drexel work closely with students to guide them through the process.

“Transferring to a four-year college or university is a major goal of many RACC students. With RACC’s STEM transfer majors in Science, Engineering, and Health Sciences, students look to Drexel University for completing their bachelor’s degree. The most important advice for students wishing to transfer is to start planning early and to talk to their faculty advisors about their goals,” says Dr. Looney.

To learn more about RACC transfer services to top regional colleges visit racc.edu/services/transfer-services.

Reading, PA – Reading Area Community College (RACC) has been awarded a $20,000 grant from the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) MentorLinks: Advancing Technological Education project, which is supported by the National Science Foundation.

Through the MentorLinks program, RACC will apply the grant toward strengthening its popular Cyber Defense Certificate program. Funding will help connect faculty and administrative staff to institutions or organizations with strong cyber defense systems, allowing them to stay current with new technologies. Grant money will also be used toward developing internships and field experiences. This will provide opportunities for program graduates to earn industry standard credentials and hands-on practical experience.

By 2021, there will be 3.5 million unfilled cybersecurity positions in the workforce. In response to the shortage, RACC introduced a Cyber Defense Certificate program in fall 2018.

“This accelerated program is ideal for professionals seeking to upskill, change careers, or for students wishing to enter the cybersecurity field,” says RACC President Dr. Susan Looney. “This grant will enable us to continue to strengthen and expand the program to meet the growing demands of the cybersecurity industry.”

The RACC Cyber Defense Certificate combines both networking and systems administration fundamentals, with a focus on defensive strategies to securing systems. This accelerated program can be completed in 15 months, and all courses may be taken online.

For more information about Cyber Defense training at RACC, visit racc.edu/cyberdefense.