Staff and faculty at Salt Lake Community College pitched in recently
to show young students all of the cool and interesting stuff they’ll experience
when they begin taking classes at SLCC.
The students were from East, Highland and West high schools,
taking part in the PACE
(Partnerships for Accessing College Education) Career Explorations week
held each June. PACE is a scholarship program at SLCC created to increase
participation in higher education and graduation rates for high school
students.
Students visited the Miller Campus to see what happens at
the Culinary Institute, in the automotive program and with academic paths in various
areas of public safety. At the South City and Westpointe campuses, they learned
about video game design, making music, welding, graphic design and aviation
maintenance. Students received a dose of health sciences at the Jordan Campus,
and then finished up on the Taylorsville Redwood Campus with experiments in
chemistry and physics before learning about interior design, computer science
and business.
Attending the four days of Career Explorations fulfills one
of several requirements that students must complete to secure their
scholarships at SLCC. They need to maintain at least a 2.5 GPA, take four years
of progressively advance math and attend several meetings and events. Upon
completion, participants receive up to a two-year scholarship to SLCC. To be
eligible to participate, students must be at least one of the following:
first-generation college student, someone who demonstrates financial need or an
“underrepresented” student in higher education.