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WITBY FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, MAY 14, 1986, PAGE 11 -I t, Graduating students Derek Wills 18, Nancy Penedo 18, and Dianne Middleton 17, check out university and college calendars in Anderson Collegiate's guidance office. Free Press Staff Photo j Durham College odds-on favourite By JAN DODGE Free Press Staff Derek Wills, like the rest of the 93 percent of grade 13 students at Anderson Collegiate, has applied to attend university in Sep- tember. Like many other students in Durham Region, Wills has chosen business ad- ministration, but his choice of a smaller university, Brock in St. Catharines, has gone against the trend. Wills visited the campus last weekend and says he was impressed. He liked the newness and the size. "It's not too hard to find my· way around," says Wills. He admits Brock's slightly lower admission standards make it an at- tractive choice for him. Last week the Free Press looked at the September plans of grade 13 students in Durham Region such as Wills, after talking to guidance counsellors in a telephone survey of a sam- pling of high schools across the region. This week we'll concen- trate on grade 12 and 13 graduates who plan to at- tend community colleges: Anderson students Nancy Penedo and Dianne Mid- dleton are headed for com- munity colleges in the fall. Penedo, 18, unlike most of her grade 13 classmates, has chosen college over university beéause she wants a specific course - fashion merchandising. Middleton, 17, a grade 12 student in a four-year program, looks to Durham College where she will take business administration, specializing in data processing this September. She says she hadn't con- sidered working after grade 12. "If I get more education, l'Il get a better job," she says. Most grade 13 students not applying for univer- sities bave opted for com- munity colleges. (Denis O'Connor the separate board's Ajax high school reports more than usual with one-third of its grade 13 students making that choice.) Some students are serving apprenticeships while others are returning for upgrading or leaving to work. A few plan to travel for a year. Most students leaving high school at the end of grade 12 go to community colleges. The majority of grade 12 students, however, return for grade 13. Janet Horner, assistant guidance head, estimates 33 percent of Dunbarton's grade 12 students go to colleges, but 50 percent return to grade 13. Sixty-seven percent of grade 12 students at Ander- son Collegiate intend to go to colleges, but both Henry Street High School and Brock High School report college applications are down this year. More students are returning for grade13. At McLaughlin Collegiate there is a 50:50 split on those headed to grade 13 and those headed to college or work, while at O'Neil about 40 percent of the 300 grade 12 students will go to college or to grade 13 in another school. Ten percent will find jobs, the rest will return to grade 13. The situation is similar at East- dale. At Bowmanville, however, about 33 percent of grade 12 students go to colleges, 33 percent to grade 13, and the remainder to work, or trade schools. Most students continue to grade 13 at Denis O'Connor. "Our academic-based programs are oriented to pursuing a university education," Paul Bilorosek, head of guidance, said. Only 10 percent will go to college at the end of grade 12 and one or two percent to work. At the separate board's Paul Dwyer in Oshawa about 72 percent will return for grade 13. The rest will go college or work. At Trafalgar Castle, a Whitby private school for young women, few students leave at the end of grade 12. Most of those who do go to colleges in the U.S. Students submitted ap- plications for community colleges in February; the acceptances or • refusals began arriving mid-April. The odds-on favorite is, not suprisingly, Durham College - particularly at Oshawa high schools. Durham's admissions office reports out of 1500 first-year registrations in 1985, 1050 were from the regiôn. Since colleges generally do not provide residence space, most students plan to live at home. . Middleton from Anderson says, "I chose Durham because it was close, and it had the course I wanted." The farther the high school is away from Oshawa, however, the greater is the attraction to other colleges. In the west at Dunbarton, although Durham is favored, many students find Centennial more accessible because of public transpor- tation, even though the Durham College bus stops at the high school. Seneca and George Brown in Toronto also attract some. "We promote Durham. I think Durham tries harder because it is smaller," says Walter Reed, head of guidance at Dunbarton. Brock students in the nor- th find Sir Sandford Fleming's Lindsay campus close as well as Barrie's Georgian College; Bowmanville students are attracted to the Peter- borough and Lindsay cam- puses of Sir Sandford Fleming. "Some choose-not to ap- ply to Durham because they want to get away from home," Peter Snaith, assistant head at O'Neil Collegiate, says. If students want a par- ticular course, such as fashion merchandising which Durh'am doesn't of- fer, they go wherever they can get that program. Penedo, from Anderson, chose Centennial over Georgian and Seneca where she was also accepted. "It had the best course and had the best placement." She said that 100 percent of last year's graduates in fashion mer- chandising at Centennial found work. Law enforcement is a popular choice at McLaughlin, O'Neil, East- dale, and Bowmanville. "Students are picking it because they think it will get them into the police for- ce, but it is not a guarantee at all. Many forces prefer to train their people them- selves," Snaith said. Jerry LeRoy, guidance head at Eastdale, suggested it might by the pay level ($35,000 with a grade 12 education) or the television influence of Miami Vice, or a charge in the perception of police officers. "It may be the pendulum swinging away from the free and easy sex and drugs of the 60s to a more conservative way," he said. The most popular choices at community colleges are business and health scien- ces. Durham College's largest division is Business. Under Health Sciences the college offers nursing and nursing assistant as well as dental assistant and dental hygienist courses. Coming on strong with students are the hospitality services. Lynn Parr, guidance head at Anderson notes the increase in this area. Durham offers food and beverage management, but not hotel management or travel and tourism that An- derson and Dunbarton students are looking to Cen- tennial for. Durham offers a great variety of technology sub- jects, but although they remain fairly popular with students from schools which have shops, LeRoy from O'Neil says "the demand is not nearly what the market would bear." He says there are two reasons students might avoid this area: i) technology leans heavily on maths and sciences which are seen as tough subjects and ii) a backlash to technology. "Students are afraid of the assembly-line thing with machines and robotics. Te want to work with le,"says LeRoy. Early childhood education is showing strength in spite of low pay. LeRoy says the pay would be fine as a second income, but is at present inadequate for sole support. In 1985 Durham began an early children education program in conjunction with a daycare centre. Communications and creative arts courses are also popular with some students and these, Durham can supply. Under com- munication arts the college has courses in advertising, journalism, and public relations. Creative arts courses include graphic ar- ts and interior design cour- ses. However, for wildlife resource technician, forestry management, agriculture, vet assistant, pharmacy assistant, funeral director, theatre ar- ts, music industry arts, and radio and television arts which some students selec- SEE PG. 28 I~ï~ lIMA il w :77