AUBURN — This fall, more Edward Little High School students will take college courses without leaving town.

In one program, called Bridge Year, Edward Little sophomores Zion Gurney, 16, Kim Pepin, 15, and 18 others will have completed their college freshmen year — for about $1,000 — when they leave high school.

When they graduate from Edward Little in 2017, they’ll be college sophomores.

Over the next two years, they will take classes at Lewiston Regional Technical Center. Gurney will study criminal justice; Pepin, health care.

The 20 also will study college science, math, English and history at Edward Little, earning both high school and college credit.

“That’s pretty awesome,” Pepin said. “That’s a lot of time and a lot of money. It’s way less expensive. My parents are ecstatic.”

Gurney wants to become a Maine game warden and doesn’t want to be mired in debt.

His neighbor is a young teacher paying $800 a month on student loans, he said. “I don’t want to have to deal with that. Doing this is saving a lot of money and will give me experience of college before I get there.”

Two other new programs at the high school will be offered through Central Maine Community College.

One, Fast Forward, will be taught at Edward Little to students 16 and older by CMCC faculty. Students can take one or two courses per semester.

The other, Advanced Scholars, allows Edward Little seniors to become CMCC students, spending their final year of high school at the college. Students would pay CMCC tuition, about $350 per course. But they could take advantage of a program that allows them to take up to six credits tuition-free.

In a written statement, CMCC spokesman Roger Philippon said the college expects the programs to help 20 to 50 Edward Little students next year.

Edward Little Assistant Principal Jim Horn has worked on bringing the programs to Auburn because, he said, too many seniors waste time.

“We have kids at most high schools where the seniors only need to take English to graduate,” Horn said. “Why keep kids in high school taking other high school courses when they could be going to college? That’s my biggest motivation.”

He’s excited about the possibilities. “It’s a win-win. To me, it’s a gift.”

In the Bridge Year program, the 20 EL students will take University of Maine or University of Maine at Augusta courses their junior and senior years. The college classes will be taught by EL teachers who’ve become adjunct professors: Nancy Bowie will teach math; Brandi McFadden, chemistry; Nathan Theriault, history; and Melissa Margarones, college writing.

“Lewiston Regional Technical Center has very much helped spearhead” the Bridge program, said Lewiston Superintendent Bill Webster. “We are pleased to have a partnership with EL and the universities.”

While the costs are small for high school students compared to regular college bills, “we’ve got some kids that have no money,” Horn said. To help them, “I’ll do fundraising.”

What’s different about the Bridge program compared to other early college programs is “we make sure kids get (job) skills,” said Fred Woodman, coordinator of the Bridge program. It’s overseen by the Department of Education and housed at the United Technologies Center, a high school technical center in Bangor.

The program ties together job skills and college education and exposes students to careers through local businesses.

When the 20 EL students are juniors and seniors, they’ll take their college classes together “and will stay together for two years,” Horn said. “They’ll form study groups. That helps students.”

In the fall of 2016, the Bridge program will be offered to another group of 20 EL students. It will expand to other high schools, including Lewiston, Woodman said.

Gurney said he learned about the program from his guidance counselor. At first, he wasn’t interested. “I want to have a life,” he said.

But his guidance counselor kept talking about it. Gurney asked his parents. “My parents absolutely wanted me to do it,” he said. “I will need to worry more about school than my social life.”

Pepin plans a career in medical science or psychology. She heard about the program from her math teacher.

She said she’s good at managing her time. Her focus will be “school, school, school,” she said.

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Bridge Year program expanding

AUBURN — The Bridge Year program, an initiative of Gov. Paul LePage, blends high school, college and career skills and exploration, Coordinator Fred Woodman recently told the Auburn School Committee.

“Our demographic is the average student,” Woodman said. Average students are the ones who “usually drop out of college,” often for financial reasons.

“The average student loan debt in Maine is $25,000,” he said. “In Piscataquis County, the average household income is $33,000. Now you know why what we’re doing is not sustainable.

“Now you know why kids are dropping out. Now you know what the colleges know. Many of those loans are not getting paid back.”

The Bridge Year program is not for all students, Woodman said. “It’s for students who want to push themselves more.”

The Bridge started as a joint effort between the United Technologies Center in Bangor, Hermon High School and Eastern Maine Community College. The community college system abandoned the program after a one-year pilot. It was continued by the University of Maine System.

Earlier this year, LePage pressured John Fitzsimmons to resign as head of the community college system for failing to adopt the Bridge program.

This year, the program is at eight high schools in northern and eastern Maine. It’s expanding to 10 high schools next year, including Edward Little. In 2016-17, the program is expected to be offered at six or seven more high schools, including those in Lewiston, Augusta and Farmington, Woodman said Thursday.

Statewide, about 200 students are enrolled in the Bridge program. That number is expected to grow to 800 within two years, Woodman said. “The bigger schools are coming in.”