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Lola Vestal is living proof that it is never too late to learn.
Along with nearly 70 other mostly non-traditional students from the Longview-Kelso area, the 70-year-old Kelso resident received a bachelor of arts degree this past spring in graduation ceremonies at WSU Vancouver.
“Lola is everything I want to be when I’m 70,” said Maureen MacCracken, coordinator of WSU’s Cowlitz County Learning Center in Longview. “She has an incredible desire to learn and was a role model for many younger students and single parent students. I’m going to miss her.”Vestal started taking night courses at Lower Columbia College while still employed at Longview Fibre Co., where she worked for 30 years. After earning a two-year associate arts degree, she embarked on a four-year bachelor degree in English through WSU Vancouver, taking some of her classes at the Cowlitz County Learning Center.
“We have a tuition waiver for people who are 60 and older,” MacCracken said, “but she never used it. She didn’t want special consideration for her age. She just wanted to pursue a higher education.”
WSU launched its network of learning centers four years ago in partnership with community colleges and county governments to serve students who cannot leave home for one reason or other to attend school full time. They are generally older than traditional college students, married, and have jobs and families.
“Our students are place bound,” MacCracken said. “They cannot move to four-year campuses to complete their degrees.”
The 11 centers, all managed by WSU Cooperative Extension, provide access to bachelor of arts degree programs in human development, social sciences, business, criminal justice, and nursing as well as a B.S. and M.S. in agriculture from WSU’s Extended Degree Programs. The Cowlitz center also provides access to a B.A. in education.
This past spring, a total of 326 students in WSU’s Extended Degree Program were from learning center communities and received student support services from learning center staff, including exam proctoring and access to computers.
The centers also respond to other community educational needs as well. “We do quite a bit in addition to the for-credit offerings here,” MacCracken said.
Non-credit offerings have included a series of satellite television programs on school-related issues sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education; a day-long community workshop on child abuse recognition that attracted more than 150 teachers, police, and other professionals who work with families; and a weekend introductory computer class for senior citizens.
“In the nearly four years that the Cowlitz County Learning Center has been in existence, we have helped several thousand students and potential students learn more about WSU programs and complete their WSU degrees while staying in their communities,” MacCracken said.
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