Hillary Pennington, of the Seattle-based Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, an influential voice in education policy, said she was surprised that Bunker Hill offered midnight classes and that students agreed to go to school that late.
“Bunker Hill is a good example of an institution that's doing enormously creative things that go above and beyond what you'd expect to respond to students' needs," Pennington said.
Demand for midnight classes at the college "really underscores the fact that we need to create schools that work for people who work, that do not require them to make such extraordinary sacrifice to advance their learning," she said.
Wick Sloane, who volunteered to teach the midnight English class, said he's been making plans to keep the students engaged to ensure they keep coming back.
"My colleagues taught me at night courses you always bring some food because you don't know, people may not have had a meal that day," said Sloane, who writes about community college teaching in a blog.
He also has a simple plan to stay awake for the overnight class.
“I'm taking a short nap,” he said, “and my mindset is, 'I'm not working late, I'm getting up early.' That's my attitude.”
© Copyright 2005 by DiverseEducation.com
