(Rome City Schools media release):
Students of the Phoenix Performance Learning Center (PLC) were given the opportunity to see, first-hand, what options for the future look like when Georgia Highlands College (GHC) welcomed them on a tour, on Wednesday, October 6.
English teacher at the PLC, Erin Strickland, said that despite the proximity of the colleges in Rome, the students don’t always have the opportunity to tour the facilities.
“We thought this would be a great way for them to see what is available,” Strickland said, “to see what options there are after high school and to kind of encourage them to look at local colleges as well.”
The tour of the orange and blue Chargers territory was coordinated through Communities in Schools’, PLC site coordinator, Gail Veal. Veal’s role at the PLC is to identify barriers that students may have (usually nonacademic) that hinder their academic growth, while coordinating service partnerships to aid in acquiring necessary resources to eliminate those barriers.
Strickland said that in the recent past the PLC students have had a virtual guest speaker from GHC who spoke to them about the program and about options and opportunities throughout the five campus locations.
“So this tour is kind of the follow-up visit for them to see it in person,” she explained. “We like to create partnerships between people in the community and the school just to give our students the most that they can get out of what is available here.”
GHC offers high quality curriculum, award-winning student organizations, and a championship athletic program. For 50 years, GHC has offered a quality education at an affordable cost.
The PLC is an extension of Rome High School, offering a blended learning environment that allows students to work at their own pace. The PLC offers mentorship, early graduation, and assistance in getting ready for college, the military, or work.
“Georgia Northwestern and Georgia Highlands have been really great as far as working with us,” Strickland explained, “and Gail Veal, with Communities in Schools, is wonderful to give our students opportunities to get out in the community and reach out to our partners.”