Migrant Education Students Will Attend Summer College at Cal State Channel Islands

Forty students from the Oxnard Union High School District will be getting a taste of university life this July at California State University Channel Islands. Sponsored by the Oxnard Union High School District Migrant Education Program, the Cal State Channel Islands Summer College program prepares migrant workers and their children for the transition into higher education and allows them to earn college credit.

Qualified students enroll in a five-week learning community that includes language skills instruction, career exploration, and a three-credit college course entitled "Anthropology 103: Human Beginnings: Biological and Cultural Evolution," taught by Dr. William H. Adams, who team taught last year's program as well. The course will explore scientific methods and reasoning used to understand how humans have evolved over the past 5 million years. As part of a learning community, students' written assignments in the anthropology course will also be submitted in their language skills course. Students will also be using computer simulations and completing Web-based assignments, which will enhance their computer literacy. Field trips to the La Brea Tar Pits and the Natural History Museum will give students a hands-on way to interact with the course content.

Now in its third year, the Summer College program, which boasts a 100 percent completion rate, motivates students to finish high school and pursue a college degree. Students are furnished with school supplies and a computer for home use while in the course. A free shuttle bus escorts them to and from campus. Five graduates from last year's program will be attending Cal State University Channel Islands in the fall as part of the University's first freshman class.

"The students come out of this course highly motivated and convinced that higher education is something they can really do," comments Lupe Reyes-Castillo, migrant instructional support teacher for the Oxnard Union High School District. "I would say that probably 90 percent of them go on to college, which is an extremely high number for this particular group."

Gary Berg, director of extended education at Cal State Channel Islands says, "With the Summer College program, we are seeing the growing impact of CSU Channel Islands in Ventura County. These students are overcoming innumerable barriers and pursuing higher education degrees, giving them the opportunity to better themselves, their families, and their community."

The Summer College program will be in session Monday through Thursday, from June 30 to July 31.

Media Contact: Peggy Hinz, Director of Communications and Marketing
805-437-8947 or Peggy.Hinz@csuci.edu