MARESA partners with NMU to form form technical middle college
Starting this fall, students in two Marquette County school districts will have an opportunity to earn college credit by participating in a middle college program.
The Marquette-Alger Regional Educational Service Agency announced its partnering with Northern Michigan University to create the Marquette-Alger Technical Middle College. The program’s pilot year will consist of students from Marquette and Negaunee.
“It’s a great opportunity for our students to earn a substantial amount of college credits at no cost to them or their family,” MARESA Career and Technical Director Brian Sarvello said. “But it also provides a gradual and supported transition from high school to college that helps students succeed even better at the post-secondary level, and finally we wanted to provide a strong incentive for students to pursue a career in technical education or STEM-science, technology, reading, and mathematics program-that we really need to sustain our economy.”
Students will earn college credit during the five-year program, taking classes both at NMU and their respective school districts.
“We’ll have two academies available to students. The first one is a health sciences academy which pairs our health occupations program at Marquette Senior High School with Northern Michigan University’s clinical sciences program,” Sarvello said. “In addition to that, we also have an industrial maintenance academy which pairs our high school welding programs with the industrial maintenance program at Northern Michigan University.”
The public can learn more about the program by attending informational meetings in Marquette and Negaunee.
- Monday, July 28 — 11:45 a.m. and 7 p.m. at Marquette Senior High School’s Little Theater
- Tuesday, July 29 — 11:45 a.m. and 7 p.m. at Negaunee High School’s auditorium
The pilot program is open to students in those districts for now, but as the program continues to grow, it’s expected to expand to other school districts across Marquette and Alger Counties.