TRiO Students honored at luncheon

TRiO students with KCC President Dr. Roberto Gutierrez, Vice President of Student Affairs Gail Schull, Academic and Learning Advisor Hallie Mentz, and Administrative Assistant Pam Silcox

Seventy-eight Klamath Community College students received honor certificates at the second annual TRiO Student Success Services luncheon Thursday, celebrating their accomplishments.

There were 31 students in attendance at the event, many are first-generation college students and nearly all spoke at the luncheon about their struggles and accomplishments.

“If it hadn’t been for my parents immigrating here, I would not be here today,” said Sarah Nava through tears. “They wanted something better for me. I received tremendous support from TRiO as well,” Nava said, who is in the Associate of Arts – Oregon transfer degree.

Phera Knox told the gathering, “I decided to go to college because I didn’t want to work at low-paying jobs the rest of my life.” She plans to go into bioremediation with the Bureau of Land Management.

Those who spoke at the luncheon noted the cost savings KCC provides for basic higher education and the pathways to future degrees.

TRiO is a federally funded program that has been on the KCC campus since 2011. At present, it is in the fourth year of a five-year grant. It was established nationally in 1964 to help guide students who, otherwise, may not have an opportunity to attend higher education. Students may come from low-income backgrounds, are the first-generation attending college or may have a disability. About 140 students are enrolled in the program with ages ranging from 18 to 67. Those at the luncheon are on the KCC Dean’s list or an honor roll from the fall or winter terms.

Hailie Mentz, academic and learning advisor, and Pam Silcox, administrative assistant, run the program on the first floor of Founders Hall. The space is welcoming to students who want to study, interact or just relax.

“We’re a program that offers extra help for students if they want it,” Silcox said. “We offer tutoring, teach financial literacy, have financial aid consulting and provide cultural activities. We help with certificates or navigating transfers to other colleges.”

“We have created lasting rites of passage that every TRiO student should have to go through during their time with us,” Silcox said. “One of them is the honors luncheon.”

Stephanie Torres, a nursing student, said, “I’m glad I found KCC. First, it is affordable. And, I’ve received nothing but love and support.”

Keynote speaker, KCC President Dr. Roberto Gutierrez, encouraged the students to, “say what your specific goal is out loud. If you do that, you know what it is, your friends know, and that holds you accountable to it.”

Dr. Gutierrez is a product of what community colleges have to offer. “If I had not had a community college to attend, I would have never gone to college,” he said.  He noted that Horace Mann, public education advocate from the 1850s, once said, “Education is the great equalizer.”

“Your lives, my life, have been changed thanks to education,” Dr. Gutierrez said.

At KCC, about 35 to 40 TRiO students graduate every year; 79% of last year’s TRiO students returned for the current school year; 89% are in good academic standing; 33% earned an Associate Degree or certificate.

Contact TRiO at 541-880-2289.