Juniors Phoebe Gainey and Sara Reina work in Janel Thompson’s English 112 class. They are taking this Durham Tech course at Riverside as part of the Pirate Promise program. Photo by Kalissa Everett.
Tucked away in a little room in the engineering hall, Amy Pine’s English 111 class was hard at work one winter afternoon.
It was silent except for the clacking of keyboards and occasional questions.
“It’s important to give people credit for their ideas but it’s also important to use their ideas,” Pine explained to the class.
Students spent the period working on a research essay. Pine focused the lesson on thesis writing and source citation.
It was an English class like any other. But there was one key difference: students were working towards an associate’s degree in addition to their high school diploma.
The opportunity to take tuition-free college courses has been available through Durham Tech for years, but it only came to Riverside’s campus this semester, through a program called Pirate Promise.
“It’s good for students who maybe aren’t financially stable,” said Casey Dwyer, a junior in Pine’s class.
Through the program, juniors are taking Durham Tech courses at Riverside. They are working towards the completion of either a one-year pathway or a two-year associate’s degree.
“It’s one of the different ways Durham Tech and DPS are partnering to offer Durham Tech courses,” Durham Tech coordinator Tevin Jones said.
Pirate Promise was implemented to increase access.
“We wanted to help students who may not have transportation,” Jones said. “Currently there’s not a bus to get from Riverside to Durham Tech.”
The classes fit better into students’ schedules than traditional off-campus Durham Tech courses.
“It is about 15 minutes to get from Riverside to Durham Tech, so they don’t have to worry about that driving part,” he said
Jones believes early college credit programs like Pirate Promise are especially critical in communities like Durham.
“Our population is different from other community colleges,” Jones said. “This population is a lot more diverse, social-economic status, race, ethnicity.”
He also believes students may adjust more to the academic rigor if they are in a familiar environment.
“Because they’re around their classmates, maybe they feel more comfortable because it is only just juniors versus going to Durham Tech, it’s a wide range,” he said. “Youngest is 13-14, oldest is 80, 90, 100.”
Since implementing Pirate Promise, Jones has noticed a change in gender demographics.
“More young men are taking Durham Tech courses because typically it was just young women,” he said.
The program has an exciting future ahead, including a potential name change and more STEM course offerings.
“We are getting some feedback that the students don’t love all that English,” Jones said.
They are also hoping to get a bus to take seniors off campus to Durham Tech so juniors can take courses at Riverside.
Pirate Promise is just one of many opportunities Riverside students have to take college-level courses.
“It is typically maybe some of the students who wouldn’t have gone the AP route,” Jones said. “This is an opportunity for a different route they can take.”
