Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

PCC's Alternative High School Gives Dropouts Second Chances

Photos and Story by James Hill

Alex Molofeyev had fun at Marshall High School – too much fun. The Ukraine immigrant skipped classes and did not do well academically. He now admits that one of the challenges of a new life in his new country included "too much freedom."He dropped out of school and decided to become an entrepreneur, starting a construction business. He was doing well but it was not what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. He had no clear direction and felt confused about his future until a nasty car accident put him in the hospital for six months. He broke almost every bone in his body. In the hospital, he had time to think about his life and decided to try school again. He turned to PCC and enrolled in the alternative high school program designed for students with limited English. After starts and stops, Alex settled in and worked hard but he missed earning the GED by one point. He easily could have given up – the one-point miss meant retaking all five of the GED tests. Instead, Alex dug in and several months later earned his GED. He is now enrolled as a college student at PCC, and plans to pursue a career as an emergency medical technician. Alex Malofeyev’s success story is one of many for the PCC Prep Alternative Program, which last year helped almost 1,350 non-traditional high school students in its three programs.PCC Prep will hold several open houses to introduce its services to the community, to highlight current students’ accomplishments and to offer prospective students and families an opportunity to meet the faculty, and tour facilities. The eastside open house is set for 6:30 to 9 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 23, at PCC’s Southeast Center, 2850 S.E. 82nd Ave. The westside open house will be held from 6:30 to 9 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 29, at the PCC Washington County Workforce Training Center on 18624 N.W. Walker Road in Aloha. The program has also scheduled orientation sessions at a variety of PCC locations for students with limited English proficiency not currently enrolled in high school and between the ages of 16 and 20. The orientations are scheduled for:Southeast Center, 2850 SE 82nd Ave. – Aug. 2, 9, and Sept. 6, 11; Portland Metropolitan Workforce Training Center, 5600 NE 42nd Street – Aug. 16, 30, and Sept. 5; and Washington County Workforce Training Center, 18624 N.W. Walker Road – Aug. 15, 23, and Sept. 10, 11.Call 503-978-6288 for more information.Students for whom English is their native language, who are at or above an eighth grade reading level, and who are not currently enrolled in high school can call 503-978-5615 to schedule an orientation session. These sessions will begin on Aug. 20.