HDCC: Year 5 Ruminations and Celebrations

Broadening the Definition of College

Dear Friends of HDCC:

As HDCC wraps up its “High Five Year” since its inception in 2020, collaborating in ten school districts in Southern Idaho’s ranching and farming communities, I wish to thank you once again for your wonderful support and encouragement.

As a long-time college counselor, my conversations with middle schoolers over the past five years have validated HDCC’s broader definition of college, which more accurately captures the myriad educational opportunities available to high school graduates. As educators, we have misrepresented the notion of college to middle and high school students over the past several decades. By promoting a narrower paradigm that college-bound students are limited to those attending a four-year bachelor of arts or science program, an unfortunate schism between students who attend “college” and those who do not, based on this myopic definition, has evolved. This divide plays out in the language we often use to distinguish and categorize those who pursue career or vocational credentials (the trades) versus those who pursue a four-year degree.

In HDCC’s aspirational workshops, we demystify student perceptions of college by explaining that if one’s aspiration is to pursue a credential in the trades or a particular vocation, a two-year associate degree, or a four-year bachelor’s degree, we call ALL of these educational opportunities COLLEGE. Why? Because most credentials and/or degrees across Idaho and the nation can be earned at career and technical colleges, community colleges, or four-year colleges or universities. Often we use these classifications interchangeably as colleges/universities like College of Southern Idaho, Idaho State University, and Boise State University, to name a few, have an amazing array of programming across the technical career and trades, associate or bachelor degrees, and online offerings that meet a wide range of student aspirations on their campuses.

It is time to move beyond the traditional adage that “college is not for everyone.” Instead, let’s expand our perceptions to declare, “college is indeed for everyone” if we are willing to embrace that colleges come in all varieties. I reiterate each year that with a concerted effort, every student is capable of pursuing educational opportunities beyond high school to achieve their hopes and dreams. Whether a student wishes to be an electrician, cosmetologist, wind turbine technician, RN, lawyer, pediatrician, marine biologist, or paleontologist, each of these aspirations will necessitate a credential or degree. It is time for the national dialogue to advance a wider definition of college and help build a bridge across the college versus non-college divide. In doing this, we will open more doors for students to pursue their aspirations across the spectrum of college-level opportunities.

Happy summer to you all.

Bags Brokaw
Founder

Carey 7th Grade Awards

Gooding 6th Grade Awards

Celebrating Five Years

When I approached the Sun Valley Community School in the fall of 2019 about being a partner in a new endeavor called HDCC and allowing us to operate under their 501(c)3, I could not have forecasted where we would be in five years. Would schools be interested in participating in the program? Would funders support our mission in rural communities where few had a connection? What form would the programs take? What would be our metrics? As we celebrate the end of our “High Five Year” and take stock of what has transpired, the following tributes affirm that we are on the right track and making a difference in the lives of children.

Hagerman Scholarship Review Team

Spring Scholarship Celebrations

This week marks the end of our celebratory assemblies across the Collaborative. It is always a highlight of our work and is the essence of our mission – to inform, inspire, and celebrate the innate excitement and enthusiasm found in students from grades 5 through 8 with direct programming and aspirational scholarships. This spring we honored 242 middle schoolers (our highest number to date) which brings our five year total to 903 students. Effort to do well in school and effort to pursue educational opportunities after high school remains our mantra. There is nothing like smiling faces to remind us that “this is what it is all about!”

MC High School Senior Aspirations Scholarship

HDCC helped facilitate a new high school senior aspirations scholarship in two of our communities – Bliss School District and Wendell School District. Established by a generous family foundation, the recurring scholarship of $2,500 is offered to seniors pursuing any level of post-secondary certification or undergraduate degree at a vocational, trade, two-year, or four-year program. As part of the application process, finalists have an in-person interview. Our first-year recipients are both first-generation students who will be attending Idaho State University for Dental Hygiene and the College of Southern Idaho in Auto Body and EMT, respectively. Congratulations to Leonor Micaya Valdez at Wendell and Azalia Sophia Cisneros at Bliss.

Micaya Valdez, Wendell

Azalia Sophia Cisneros, Bliss (with 8th grade sister who received a spring award)

HDCC’s First Senior Class Finally Graduates

HDCC’s inaugural year started in three Gooding County school districts – Bliss, Hagerman, and Wendell. During the first year we conducted workshops that included two 8th grade classes and honored fourteen 8th graders with $125 scholarships at Bliss and Hagerman. This spring those two small cohorts of fourteen seniors represent the first of our graduates. I am happy to report that to date 80% of our senior scholarship recipients will attend a two or four-year program next year. Congratulations and best of luck!

Special Thanks

Two special THANK YOUs this spring:

Ted Gold and Margaret Gering established the Gold Family High School Summer Program Scholarship that encourages high school students to pursue educational learning experiences during the summer. We offered this scholarship opportunity in four Collaborative schools – Camas, Shoshone, Glenns Ferry, and Hagerman – and learned that help is needed in building student awareness around summer enrichment. This said, the scholarship fund did support two students from Shoshone School and one student from Hagerman School. We are forever grateful to Ted and Margaret for their engagement in our mission to inspire aspirations and will work closely with high school counselors next year to get the word out about this wonderful opportunity.

HDCC’s partner IDeal – Idaho’s 529 College Savings Program – offered an additional $25 bonus for the first thirty (30) HDCC Scholarship winners who open up a new Idaho 529 Education Savings account. We anticipate that parents of scholarship winners will take advantage of this bonus opportunity. Each spring, all HDCC scholarship winners receive information on how parents can redeem their child’s $125 award to open up a 529 Plan as the “best bang for the buck.”

Goldie Bishop and Dawn Hall at Idaho’s 529 College Savings Program

Aspiring Chef Asher

Asher, a 6th grader at Dietrich, expressed an interest in becoming a chef one day during a workshop and I told him about the Sun Valley Culinary Institute (SVCI) here in Ketchum as a great option. As part of his application, he researched SVCI’s program. Swinging by SVCI I told Culinary Director Chef Jorge de la Torre about Asher and he very kindly passed along a t-shirt that I presented to Asher during a visit. Thank you, Jorge! Pay it forward. Asher will be one of your students some day!

Asher, a 6th grader at Dietrich