LL Spring05.indd - Lehman College

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • CAMPUS • • • • • • • NEWS • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
‘College Now’ Helps High School Students
Prepare for College Learning
College Now at Lehman is giving
Bronx high school students the
chance to experience college life and
earn college credit—at no cost to them.
For the past five years, Lehman has
partnered with ten Bronx high schools
to offer students a variety of high school
and college credit-bearing courses, as
well as non-credit workshops. All classes
are held on the Lehman campus.
According to Pedro L. Baez, director
of the program, “The College Now
experience allows students to envision
themselves in college and to ‘demystify’ college
life. They get an accurate portrayal of what it
takes, particularly in terms of effort and time, to
get into and be successful in higher education.
“This ultimately leads to students making
better choices for themselves,” he believes,
“and provides a smoother transition from high
school to college.”
Baez adds that most students who enter
the program could not afford to take college
courses while in high school. College Now,
funded largely by the CUNY Office of Academic
Affairs, covers all expenses, including
textbooks.
Courses are divided into three groups. Cohort
courses are college-level classes that enroll
only College Now students. “For these courses,
we schedule classes, hire the faculty—with the
approval of Lehman department chairpersons—and
closely monitor student progress,”
explains Baez.
Waiver-funded courses are also scheduled
and run by Lehman, but the high school
Cherry Dazzell started in College Now
two years ago, during her sophomore
year at Lehman High School. Her goal was
to “learn how to study and digest collegelevel
material” to become familiar with
that style of teaching and learning. At the
time, she was not enthusiastic about the
prospect of entering college, anticipating
“another four years of boredom.”
All that changed as a result of her College
Now experience, which turned out to
be “not only fulfilling but also liberating.”
She became more in control of her studies
and more engaged in the material she was
College Now Director Pedro L. Baez (right), with
Corrdinator David Gantz, Program Assistant Khema
Chan (left), and Cherry Dazzell, a “graduate” of the
program.
students take their courses with the rest of the
Lehman student body. Students must fulfill
academic criteria to be eligible for these classes.
There are no academic requirements for
non-credit workshops or for courses that carry
high school credit.
Eleventh- and twelfth-grade students are
usually the main participants in College Now,
but the program is increasingly recruiting more
ninth- and tenth-graders.
“At any given time, there is a limited pool
of students in our high schools eligible to take
college-level courses,” says Baez. “We have to
‘grow’ our students in the early grades to increase
the number of eligible students.
“We also have to get students talking and
thinking about college before they reach eleventh
grade. By then, too many critical decisions—and
mistakes—have been made.” ◆
Cherry Dazzell Transitions
From ‘College Now’ to Lehman Scholar
studying. “I learned how to educate myself
and contribute my knowledge to others in
class discussions.”
The program also made her “very confident”
about entering college. She chose
Lehman both because she felt comfortable
on the campus and because of its advantages,
including the Lehman Scholars
Program for academically gifted students.
Today, Cherry Dazzell is a Lehman
Scholar, a double major in math and
political science, and an aspiring teacher
who’s looking forward to getting the most
out of her college career. ◆
Student Sculptor Wins Prize
Gordon Murray, a Master of Fine Arts student
at Lehman, has won the William and
Marie Samuels Prize at the National Arts
Club Annual Student Exhibition.
Gordon Murray and Maria Gulko,
with their work.
Murray, who worked as a printmaker
before entering the master’s program, won
the award for a steel-and-stone sculpture
that sits on a steel base, which he also
created. The piece is meant to capture the
contrasts and differences in nature. “I tried
to make something that I believe is beautiful,
warm and elegant out of this hardedged
material,” he explains.
Also entering her work in the competition
was Maria Gulko, a graduate student with
a background, like Murray, in printmaking.
She presented a photolithograph
featuring an x-ray of her skull with other
pieces of imagery stamped into the work.
She worked from her own memories of her
childhood and life to create the image.
Every year, the Art Department selects just
two students to present their work at the
exclusive exhibition, which draws artists
from over 30 colleges and universities. ◆
7