Returning students reach 220 mark

“Two hundred twenty returning students have enrolled this fall,” said Kathy Zanger, director and counsel of Gavilan’s Re-entry program. Some of these students are in the Re-entry Program (now for men as well as women), Disabled Student Services Program, some are in both programs and some are attending classes on their own.

“The ages of the returning students range from 17 to 70,” said Joyce Glass, coordinator of the Re-entry Program.

The program was designed in 1972, explained Zanger, to help those people who have been away from school and wish to resume their education.

Returning students are given the opportunity to “block” classes together. Other pluses include the utilization of the Child Development Center for children 2 ½ to 5 years old, financial assistance, counseling and tutoring.

The program fulfills the following academic quests: requirements for a high school diploma, vocational certificates, associates degrees and transfer to four-year colleges or universities.

Zanger explained that people have different reasons for returning to school.

Women with the “emptiness syndrome” might feel isolated in their homes an find that their families do not need them anymore.

Divorced women are sometimes obliged to support themselves under court ruling.

“On the other hand,” said Zanger, “it’s not uncommon for the husbands to feel apprehensive about the new situation and see it as a threat to themselves.”

Zanger added that husbands sometimes claim that their wives are too old to further their education and fail to understand how it is constructive.

“Many times the children of these women are proud that their mothers are in school,” she concluded.

Disabled Program

The Disabled Student Services Program is the second program in which returning students have enrolled.

“The purpose of the program is to integrate all physically limited students in regularly scheduled classes, besides students who are without physical limitations,” said Enabler, Carol Ghilarducci." It provides a variety of services in an effort to equalize educational opportunities for physically limited students as they move toward their vocational goals."

These services include building accessibility, reader services for the blind, classes for the deaf and hearing impaired, mobility assistance, designated parking, speech therapy, health services and supplemental income for students who qualify.

Students receive academic aid through counseling, career planning, tutoring, note takers, individual classes and vocational degree programs, Ghilarducci added.