UMUC programs benefit NWHS graduates in Prince George's County

By Andrea Martino

This summer, UMUC will be launching its Better Opportunities through Online Education program at Northwestern High School (NWHS) in Hyattsville, Md. The announcement came as the educational partners celebrated the anniversary of the University's Partners in Progress program that has benefited NWHS graduates since 1991. Both programs enable NWHS graduates to pursue educational opportunities at the University with financial assistance and other invaluable resources from area organizations and individuals.

Better Opportunities is possible because of a $20,000 gift from The Comcast Foundation for the purpose of enabling scholarship recipients to begin attending UMUC this summer. UMUC's Partners in Progress program has been in operation at NWHS for 10 years with funding from a number of corporate sponsors, most notably The Pepsi Bottling Group, which has pledged $30,000 in scholarships. Other area organizations and hundreds of UMUC faculty/staff have contributed to the program, as well.

Launched by UMUC last year in Baltimore, Better Opportunities provides the means and resources for participants to earn an undergraduate college certificate online while introducing them to Information Age technologies. The program consists of structured educational tracks in such areas as accounting, computer applications, management studies, and workplace communications. Each student-participant from NWHS will receive a number of benefits, including: necessary computer and Internet resources to participate in online courses from home; paid tuition and textbooks; guidance and mentoring; and periodic assessments to help them complete their certificates.

"The [Comcast] Foundation utilizes communication technologies to effectively address community needs," said Doug McKenzie, vice president and general manager for the Prince George's County System, Comcast Cable Communications Corp. "The UMUC Better Opportunities program fits this mold perfectly."

More than 25 NWHS students have participated in UMUC's Partners in Progress program in the past 10 years. The program provides financial, academic, and personal support for Partners in

In her remarks, 2001 UMUC alumna Suzanne McCrary (right) thanked a support team that helped her succeed in the UMUC Partners in Progress program at Northwestern High School. McCrary thanked UMUC's Beverly Lucas (center), coordinator of special programs, The School of Undergraduate Studies, and Gail Fridling (left), McCrary's former teacher at NWHS. Also pictured are Doug McKenzie (second from left), of Comcast Cable Communications Corp. and Roger Lambert (second from right), of The Pepsi Bottling Group. Both companies have given generously to fund Partners in Progress scholarships this year.

Progress students to attend classes on a part-time basis. Throughout the year, too, partnership students and UMUC staff members return to NWHS to share their message of staying in school and setting one's sights on college.

Present at a June 8 anniversary reception was Suzanne McCrary, a 2001 UMUC graduate who received a Partners in Progress scholarship on her NWHS graduation in 1996. With her bachelor's degree, she will be elevated from a clerical position to one as a public utilities specialist at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in Washington, D.C. McCrary graduated with a 3.75 grade-point average while working full-time at the FCC.

"While working towards my degree in business administration, I gained valuable work experience that nowadays is just as important as a good education," said McCrary. "Thanks to the Partners in Progress scholarship I received and all of my hard work, I am making my dreams a reality."

Roger Lambert, new business sales representative for The Pepsi Bottling Group, called McCrary and students like her "leaders of tomorrow."

"We hope that this partnership will continue and we can always find a way to lend our support, our expertise, and our knowledge to today's youth," said Lambert.

Present at the reception were six 2001 scholarship recipients, as well as graduates and those currently participating in the program at UMUC. UMUC Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Robert Myers and Vice Provost and Dean, School of Undergraduate Studies Mary Ellen Hrutka also offered remarks.

For more information about UMUC's Better Opportunities through Online Education or Partners in Progress programs, contact Beverly Lucas, coordinator of special programs, at (301) 985-6449 or via e-mail at blucas@umuc.edu.

The Comcast Foundation was established by Comcast Corporation in June 1999 and is the company's chief source of charitable support to qualified non-profit organizations. The Foundation primarily funds programs that utilize communication technologies to effectively address community needs in the areas of education, literacy, arts/culture, and community service/volunteerism.