We’ve had a great response on campus to several recent articles put out by the Boston Globe on our groundbreaking Keys to Degrees program, designed to allow single parents to participate in the full college experience by living on a campus that supports their needs and the needs of their child.

Currently Endicott has eight students in the program, and a few of their stories are featured in these articles. Take a look below to see some photos of our current students and hear about their experiences in the Keys to Degrees program. For more information on the program, visit http://www.endicott.edu/Student/SingleParProg-Student.aspx.

A huge thanks to our interviewed students, Keys to Degrees administrators Barbara Siergiewicz and Donna Buonopane, and Globe correspondent Wendy Killeen for working together on these wonderful pieces!

 

A graduation success story at Endicott College in Beverly

By Wendy Killeen, November 6, 2011

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After moving to Arizona with her family when she was 16, Jessica Rockowitz had no plans to return to Massachusetts. Then she heard about the Keys to Degrees Program at Endicott College in Beverly.

She was 17 and five months pregnant.

Keys to Degrees allows academically qualified single parents to be full-time students and live on campus with their children.

“I was reluctant,’’ said Rockowitz. “I didn’t want to leave Arizona.’’

She had graduated from high school a semester early and completed four classes at a community college just weeks before her daughter, Hayley, was born on Christmas Day 2004.

“I wasn’t keen on the idea [of Endicott] at first,’’ Rockowitz said. “But when I saw the school, I loved it.’’

She and Hayley, then 8 months old, arrived on campus in August 2005.

“It was a huge adjustment,’’ said Rockowitz, now 24. “I felt like I was at a disadvantage being from out of state. My support system wasn’t there. A lot of the girls had their kids in high school. I had never gone through school with a child. And I was taking five classes.

“I called my mom and said ‘I don’t know how I am going to do this,’ ’’ she continued. “I finished with straight As the first semester, and that gave me confidence, and I just kept going.’’

Initially a communication major, she decided she wanted to go into medicine after taking a class on world diseases. She switched majors, and graduated in 2010 with a degree in biotechnology.

She went to work at Harvard as a research assistant, recently taking time off to apply to graduate schools at Columbia University, University of Pennsylvania, and the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences.

Last New Year’s Eve she married Kyle Fiedler, a former Endicott student she met her freshman year and dated throughout college.

“Some students had a negative attitude toward us, but as a whole they didn’t,’’ said Rockowitz. “I had a lot of friends there from outside the program. But I found my best friends in the program.

“Most people say the program is so great because you get a chance to get your degree,’’ she said. “But really, for me it was the college experience. I pity people who will never get that. It was just an amazing time in my life.

“The fact I was a teen parent and still got the opportunity to have a genuine college experience is amazing to me.’’

Rockowitz said her goal is to become a nurse practitioner or physican’s assistant. And, she said, “I want more kids.’’

 

Bonding on campus

In Beverly, single parents earn degrees while living at college with their kids

By Wendy Killeen, November 6, 2011

 

 

Amanda Lapierre, 21, and Meghann Martino, 22, are good friends and college roommates. But that’s not all; they’re both single parents of toddlers.

The young women are part of the Keys to Degrees Program at Endicott College in Beverly, which allows academically qualified single parents ages 18 to 24 to be full-time students and live on campus with their children.

The program, which started in 1993, is designed for a maximum of 10 students, men or women. This year it is serving eight mothers and their children, ages 10 ½ months to 4 years.

“With all of us together, it’s like a family,’’ said Martino, of Salem, N.H., who is a sophomore nursing student and mother of 2-year-old Jackson.

“There’s definitely tons of support for us here,’’ said Lapierre, of Springfield, a sophomore liberal arts major and mother of 3-year-old Zavier. “It’s super helpful.’’

The single parents and their kids live in apartments in a wing of a dormitory built in 2005. Two moms and their children share each apartment. Each person has his or her own bedroom, and they share a bathroom, additional vanity sinks, a kitchen, and a living area. The dorm also has a large playroom for the children. The parents are allowed to stay in the dorm during the summer, whether they are taking classes or working off campus.

“It provides a stable living environment,’’ said Barbara Siergiewicz, coordinator of Keys to Degrees.

The program provides financial aid, scholarships, and grants. It also offers workshops on parenting issues and life skills such as managing money. And there is a baby-sitting cooperative among the parents.

The big plus: The parents have the opportunity to attend college for four years and earn a bachelor’s degree.

“We know the statistics are pretty grim as far as single parents getting out of the poverty level,’’ said Siergiewicz. “This program gives them a future.’’

She said the children also benefit from being together and having access to quality day care.

“No other comprehensive program like ours exists in Massachusetts that I know of,’’ she said.

The program was created by Richard E. Wylie, president of Endicott since 1987. He said the idea was the result of talking with the family of a young woman visiting the college in 1993.

“The father said to me, ‘I don’t know why my daughter is interviewing here. She’s going to have a baby and I’m not going to take care of the child,’ ’’ Wylie recalled. “I felt frustrated.’’

Shortly afterward, Keys for Degrees was in place – and that young woman was on the way to her degree. Now, Endicott is helping other colleges across the country replicate the program.

 

Endicott’s Keys to Degrees

Photos by Wendy Killeen, Globe Correspondent

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Amanda Lapierre, 21, and Meghann Martino, 22, are good friends and college roommates. But that’s not all; they’re both single parents of toddlers. Pictured: Amanda Lapierre’s son Zavier (left) and Meghann Martino’s son Jackson (right) play together in the third floor dorm room.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Keys to Degrees Program at Endicott College in Beverly allows academically qualified single parents ages 18 to 24 to be full-time students and live on campus with their children. Pictured: Student and mother Katrina Costa (backround) and her 10 month old daughter Kylie in the play room in the dormitory where they live.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The program, which started in 1993, is designed for a maximum of 10 students, men or women. This year it is serving eight mothers and their children, ages 10 1/2 months to 4 years. Pictured: Student and mother Mariel Margarin (left) helps her three year old son Damien with his jacket in his bedroom as they are about to head out of their dorm building to the playground that is behind the building.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The single parents and their kids live in apartments in a wing of a dormitory built in 2005. Two moms and their children share each apartment. Each person has his or her own bedroom, and they share a bathroom, additional vanity sinks, a kitchen, and a living area. Pictured: Student and mother Amanda Lapierre (left), and fellow student Mariel Margarin (right) have some fun as they head out of their dorm at left and head to the playground that is behind the building with Mariel’s three year old son Damien between them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“It provides a stable living environment,’’ said Barbara Siergiewicz, coordinator of Keys to Degrees. The program provides financial aid, scholarships, and grants. It also offers workshops on parenting issues and life skills such as managing money. And there is a baby-sitting cooperative among the parents. Pictured: Student mothers Amanda Lapierre (left) Mariel Margarin (center) and Meghann Martino (right) talking about the program.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“We know the statistics are pretty grim as far as single parents getting out of the poverty level,’’ said Siergiewicz. “This program gives them a future.’’ She said the children also benefit from being together and having access to quality day care. Students and mothers have some fun at the playground that is behind the dormitory building where they live.

 

“People are nice, and good with the kids,’’ said Lapierre. “But you go in the dining hall and you get looks from other students. You are not cast out from the population, but you are different.’’ Pictured: Student and mother Amanda Lapierre talks about the program.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Still, the young moms wouldn’t trade anything for the opportunities Keys to Degrees gives them. Pictured: Jessica Rockowitz and her daughter Hayley.