By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post
For years, Barton Community College has been offering ways for high
school students to get a head start on their college plans by taking classes at
Barton while in high school.
Barton has partnerships with 17 high schools around the area to offer classes.
Students have the options for taking classes taught by an instructor at their
high school, taught online by a Barton instructor with a high school mentor in
the room, taught on campus or completely online.
Barton staff tries to inform high school principals, counselors and advisors
about the availability of their college classes, but Board of Trustees Chair Mike
Johnson said the responsibility to disburse that information to the students
still relies on the high school advisors.
"Most advisors at that level are bombarded," said Johnson. "You don't know how much they're grasping. Are they taking your info and putting it in the bottom drawer? In addition to us reaching out to them, four-year institutions are reaching out, other community colleges and tech colleges are reaching out. We have to continue to look at what can make our stuff stand out."
High school students who are sophomores and above, or freshmen with a gifted Individualized Education Plan (IEP), can take Barton’s college classes. Enrollment is ongoing until Aug. 26. Apply online at bartonccc.edu.