In the eyes of the law, the blame rests squarely on a then-23-year-old man with a troubled history. You can make your college experience around what you know and don't know.Twenty years ago this week, a levee on the Mississippi River broke. "There's not necessarily anybody who's not college material," she said.
I got a B-plus in one and a B in the other."Įlla hopes her story - and her dad's - can help inspire others. "I decided to grab the hardest two classes first, history and religion, to get them out of the way. "They talked up my placement test so highly, it made me feel like I could accomplish anything," he said. Struggling with his day job and being a full-time student during the summer, Gerad was hired by the college's work-study program for the physical plant department - and he appreciates the encouragement the college provided. "We jumped in head first not knowing what we were doing." "I'm just now starting to grasp all the stuff John Wood has to offer," Gerad said.
#QUINCY HERALD WHIG HELP WANTED FREE#
The goal is retention, graduation, transfer and even employment for students, said Alisa Cameron, manager of the federal TRiO student support services program, which provides free help to eligible students, and different areas of the college work together to meet student needs. "I passed history for the first time," said Gerad, who is "good with numbers" and hopes to be an accountant.Īlong the way, they've tapped into a variety of services offered by JWCC - including federal and state grants, and scholarship opportunities - to help traditional and nontraditional students. The condensed summer courses kept both busy but convinced them they were moving in the right direction. "I wasn't going to take summer school, but he liked his religion class, so I jumped in two weeks late," she said. She had a head start when Gerad enrolled in summer school after she persuaded him to try JWCC. "I thought I'd be far behind, and some things I probably could have known better when I started, but it's been a whole lot easier academically than I thought it would be," said Ella, who hopes to major in clinical psychology. She'd already decided to attend JWCC, and a First Year Experience class offered by JWCC during her senior year in the Regional Safe Schools program provided even more encouragement, along with so-called soft skills such as writing resumes and filling out job applications. This place will work with you to get you through anything."Įlla struggled in the traditional classroom and found success, thanks to the Adams County Regional Safe Schools program, and she graduated from Quincy High School in June. "If you think there's even a slight chance you might want to do it, you need to jump in. "I wish I'd done it 20 years ago," he said. A placement test for JWCC offered some encouragement, and so did help available through the school. Gerad, who became a father at an early age, basically had a 10th-grade education. "They want to really succeed, and they are succeeding."īut college wasn't initially on the radar for either one. They're good support for each other and really seem to be dedicated to pursuing academic careers," he said. Palmer wishes he had more students like the father-daughter pair. "Everybody's always like, 'You go to school with your dad in all the same classes,' but I love it," said Ella, who works part time at Children's Place and attends JWCC part time.
"I've been here, if you count my part-time work, 26 years."īut Ella said it just makes sense for the pair. "I've had mother-daughter and husband-wife, but this is the first father-daughter team I've ever had an opportunity to teach," said David Palmer, a languages, literature and humanities professor at JWCC.
"I didn't think it was weird that we went to school together until the teachers started saying it," said Ella, who hopes to study clinical psychology. They share books for classes, encourage each other, and if one has to miss a class, the other makes sure to take good notes.
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