Tulsa Community College Dedicates Education Outreach Center
FUTURE STUDENTS? Marshall Thomas, 10, his brother Brady, 9, and their friend Brisseida Miranda, 9, may be a little young to be thinking about college but they showed up to have their faces painted at the opening of TCC’s Education Outreach Center. Here they are welcomed by Education Outreach Center Coordinator Isaac Hiriart. The center, housed in an old convenience store at 2201 S. Garnett Rd., is a model program to make higher education facilities more accessible for the community.
DAVID JONES for GTR Newspapers
A former convenience store at 22nd Street and Garnett Road is now Tulsa Community College’s Education Outreach Center. The soda machine and gas pumps are gone, but the idea of convenience is not. On Nov. 9, TCC hosted a dedication ceremony at the EOC, located at 2201 S. Garnett Rd.
The ceremony included remarks from Tulsa Mayor Kathy Taylor, Tulsa City Councilor Dennis Troyer, Greater Tulsa Hispanic Chamber President Francisco Trevino, TCC President and CEO Tom McKeon, EOC Coordinator Isaac Hiriart and others.
A parade of flags by students from Cooper and Skelly Elementary Schools marked the official grand opening of the center. The parade was followed by a “Taste of Cultures” lunch with multicultural foods from local restaurants. Facility tours were also available throughout the day.
By providing outreach centers in area neighborhoods, TCC’s goal is to reach prospective students who have traditionally been underrepresented in higher education or who have no had previous members of their family graduate from college. The center is a model program TCC hopes to replicate in other neighborhoods and communities in order to make higher education facilities more approachable and programs more accessible. TCC believes the Education Outreach Center can be the first step many people take in making a college education a reality in their lives.
“The Outreach Center acts as a bridge to any TCC campus,” says Hiriart. “At the center, students can apply, complete college placement testing, enroll in both credit and continuing education classes, get career advisement, financial aid information and work on homework or take classes.”
The EOC staff can communicate with current and potential students in three languages: English, Spanish and Korean. This semester, TCC is offering classes in English as a second language and GED preparation. Starting in the spring, Spanish language classes will also be available.
For more information about the Education Outreach Center, contact Isaac Hiriart at (918) 595-2020 or visit www.tulsacc.edu.
Updated 12-03-2007
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