Participants taking part in Wallace State’s short term training boot-camp orientation in March. Wallace State will offer a Start Right Summer Bridge program for qualifying high school seniors that aims to help incoming freshmen transition to college.

The first of two Start Right Summer Bridge sessions is currently underway at Wallace State Community College, and the students who are participating are glad they signed up for the free three-week program.

The Start Right Summer Bridge program is aimed at recent high school graduates who need a refresher or other educational assistance to avoid taking developmental level math or English courses, saving them both time and money for their college education. A second session will be offered July 11-28.

Along with sharpening their skills in math and English so that they increase their chances of starting the fall college-level courses in those subjects, the Start Right Summer Bridge program is saving the students up to $1,944 in tuition by avoiding those developmental courses and by earning credits in a freshman orientation class. They are also learning to adapt to college courses, learning about the college and its services and connecting with fellow students and Wallace State faculty and staff.

Kara Davis, Lindsey Hindman, Isaac Chambers and Seth Whiting are among the first students taking advantage of the Summer Bridge program.

Davis, of Ashville, recently earned her GED and is planning to pursue a degree in Nursing. She said the perks of the program was the main reason she chose to participate — earning credit for at least one class and getting accustomed to being back in an educational atmosphere after being out of school for five years before earning her GED.

After completing the Summer Bridge program, Davis plans to begin taking classes at the Oneonta campus in preparation for enrolling in the Nursing program.

Hindman’s mother found about the program during a Lions’ Pride orientation session and encouraged her to participate. “I think this will help me adjust better to college and do better on placement test and get into Math 100.”

Hindman, of Gardendale, said online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic was not conducive to learning for her. “When we went to online, I didn’t learn well. I learn better in person, and I feel like during COVID a lot of people fell behind,” she said.

Along with the benefit of getting up to speed and hopefully avoiding taking a developmental course, Hindman said the experience taking college classes and learning about Wallace State will help her and her friends who will be coming to the college in the fall.

Like Davis, Hindman also plans to pursue a Nursing degree from Wallace.

Chambers and Whiting, both of Holly Pond and both planning to pursue degrees in Diesel Technology, decided to register for the Summer Bridge program after learning about it while registering for fall classes at Wallace State.

Chambers said they only had about a year in classes in person since their sophomore year due to COVID. “Tenth grade we got out half the year, 11th grade we were back and forth, and 12th was our least of them up there.” He found it easy to skate by. “I definitely did that; that was my fault,” he said. “I was the reason I didn’t learn much.”

“I knew that I was going to have to take (developmental) Math and English classes, so instead of having to go and pay for them and take them and then have to take another math class the next semester, I thought I could do this and get ready for the math and English I need to take,” Whiting said.

All the students said the classes they are taking in the Summer Bridge program have helped. “I think it’s a great refresher,” said Hindman.

Christine Wiggins, Title III Coordinator, said along with saving the students time and money, she believes the connections they make and the experiences they have are the other big benefits of the Start Right Summer Bridge program.

“Aside from the academic benefits, the connections they make with other students and with other key personnel is wonderful,” Wiggins said.”

Rachel White, director of Wallace State’s Student Support Services, recently met with the students to explain their program and appreciated the opportunity to introduce the students to their services.

“This gives them a nice overview of a lot of the resources they might otherwise not connect with,” she said.

The program is open to students who scored under 18 on the math and/or English sections of the ACT. If they did not take the ACT, a GPA lower than 2.75 plus a grade lower than a B in Algebra II or English IV is required. Classes are held on campus two days a week and online the other two days.

The next session will be held July 11-28 at the Hanceville or Oneonta campuses. For more information, contact Wiggins at 256.352.8462 or visit https://bit.ly/WSCCSummerBridge. The deadline to register is July 6.