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To address the educational and economic challenges facing Boston's Latino population, a community-based organization and a community college have joined forces to see beyond traditional approaches to learning. The Pathway Technology Campus (PTC) is a collaboration between Bunker Hill Community College (BHCC) and a Boston community development agency, Inquilinos Boricuas en Accion (IBA). It has bridged the digital and educational divide for the residents of Villa Victoria, a predominantly Latino public housing community in Boston’s South End. PTC has brought higher education to a unique educational environment: Villa Victoria is a community with unprecedented access to technology. Three other public housing developments and two high schools in the South End: Castle Square, Tent City, Cathedral Housing, Cathedral High School and El Centro Del Cardenal school have received services through PTC. This program provides free access to educational opportunities through classes held onsite, videoconferencing and online courses, academic support, and case management. The aim of the collaboration is to provide residents a pathway to a college education no matter where that journey begins. Residential units in Villa Victoria have been wired for high-speed Internet access and many include a computer and printer. This broad access to technology provides Villa Victoria residents multiple opportunities for technology-mediated learning and brings online learning resources directly into residents' homes. Building on these resources, the Pathway Technology Campus at Villa Victoria has vastly increased residents' access to educational opportunities and support systems, enabling them to improve literacy and English language skills, Mathematics skills, earn credentials and certificates(GED, Certified Nurse's Aid and Culinary Arts ServSafe) and college-level courses (both in-site and online), and work towards a college degree. A customized, intensive case-by-case academic counseling and support system, available both onsite and online, has provided the individualized attention that at-risk learners need to successfully demystify the college process and open a pathway to economic self-sufficiency. PTC has provided a gateway to higher education and career mobility for a community that traditionally has not had access to these opportunities. Lessons learned at PTC define best practices in the development of partnernships, setting new standards and serving as an invaluable guide to community colleges and community-based organizations nationwide.
ONLINE REFERENCES:
PTC - South End Campus in BHCC website
http://www.bhcc.mass.edu/inside/527
PTC Reference page within BHCC's Library website
http://www.noblenet.org/bhcc/villavictoria.htm
PTC web page within Inquilinos Boricuas en Accion's web site
http://www.iba-etc.org/programs/com_col.html
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William Sakamoto
Project Director
Bunker Hill Community
College
Distance Learning and
Weekend College
B311
250 Rutherford Avenue
Boston, MA 02129
Tel: 617-228-2214
Fax: 617-228-3326
Vanessa Calderon-Rosado
Inquilinos Boricuas En
Accion
405 Shawmuat Avenue
Boston, MA 02118
Tel: 617-927-1711
Fax: 617-536-5816
Elizabeth Pabon
Bunker Hill Community
College
Pathway Technology Campus
at Villa Victoria
250 New Rutherford Avenue,
Room B-307
Boston, MA 02129
Tel: 617-228-2390
Fax: 617-228-3326
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