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Montgomery College

TODAY
FALL 2005 • www.montgomerycollege.edu

Photo by Don Rejonis

Norma Zamora is one of Montgomery College’s first students to graduate with an associate of arts (A.A.T.) in teaching. Now, with a bachelor’s degree in education, she is the College’s first A.A.T. recipient to become a teacher.

Head of the Class
New Teacher Among First to Pioneer MC’s ‘2 + 2’ Routeto Classroom

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t’s “Meet the Teacher” day at Oakland Terrace Elementary School in Kensington, Md., three days before the start of school. In exactly two hours, one of Montgomery County’s newest teachers, Norma Zamora, will meet her third grade class. Zamora, 22, reported for work a week before she was required to, and has been sprucing up her classroom with a colorful rainbow of visualteaching aids and making sure every book

and supply is in place. Her new room is immaculate and inviting. “I’m ready,” said a calm Zamora. Zamora, of Germantown, is a source of pride for Montgomery College. She was one of the first students to graduate with an associate of arts in teaching (A.A.T.) degree. Now, with a bachelor’s degree in elementary and special education from Towson University at theUniversities at Shady Grove, she is MC’s first A.A.T. recipient to become a teacher.

MC School of Education Meets Overwhelming Need In the next five years, our nation’s schools will need a half-million new teachers as the student population swells and aging boomers approach retirement. Maryland turns out about 2,500 graduates a year with teaching degrees; it needs about 6,000–10,000Continued on page 6

INSIDE

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Gateway Program for At-Risk Students

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Adult ESOL Program In High Demand

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Employment Picture Clear For Today’s Radiographers

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Interior Design Students Showcase Talents

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Events Calendar

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FALL 2005

MONTGOMERY COLLEGE TODAY

When One Door Closes…Use the Gateway
MC’s Gateway to College Opens Doors to Higher-Education forAt-Risk High School Students

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ontgomery College is giving some young people a second change at high school and a first chance at college—all at once. Through the “Gateway to College” program, MC provides a unique option for students who have stopped going or are at risk of not completing high school. The College was selected in 2003 as one of the first two institutions in the nation toreplicate the success of a groundbreaking early college high school program pioneered by Portland Community College in Oregon. The program is one part of a multifaceted partnership between MC and Montgomery County Public Schools to ensure that students of all academic levels and backgrounds are prepared for college and the workplace. Not a GED Program Akima Rogers, a Gateway resource specialist atthe Rockville Campus, is quick to explain that Gateway is not a general equivalency diploma (GED) program, an alternative high school, or a special education program. “This is for students with high academic ability, who, for whatever reason, have had low academic achievement,” he said. “It’s for young adults interested in finding a place for themselves in life;

Photo by Don Rejonis

Gateway toCollege students benefit from small classes and individualized attention from MC professors and mentors. MC is one of only a few schools nationwide selected for the program.

for those who are ready to learn and grow. It’s a life-changing program. Students have a sense of pride being in this program because they are college students now.” The program is offered to a new cohort of 60 studentseach semester (20 per campus) at the College’s Germantown, Rockville, and Takoma Park/Silver Spring campuses. Gateway students complete their high school requirements while earning college credits toward an associate’s degree or two years of college credit. The first semester preparatory classes, taught by MC faculty, are intensive

and remedial. Students take reading, writing, and basic math...