When high school classes start for Wesley McGough, Corbin Haar, and at least a dozen other area students, they’ll have something they acquired over the summer that few if any of their classmates got: college credit.

For the fourth summer, Viterbo University offered free college classes for high school students through its Pathways program, a partnership with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater La Crosse. BGC members in high school could take a one-credit course on how to be successful in college and a three-credit psychology course. Last year, four courses totaling 10 credits were offered, thanks to a grant from U.S. Bank.

The classes don’t cost students a thing. “They don’t even have to pay for books,” said Taylor Hanson, a faculty member in Viterbo’s Dahl School of Business who oversees the Pathways program and taught the college success course.

“What we’re trying to do is give these students a jumpstart on their higher education career and show them that they can really do this,” explained Hanson, who has earned bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees from Viterbo. “Some students have said, ‘I didn’t think I could do college,’ but after the course they say they are more comfortable and looking into opportunities to go to college. These courses open their eyes to the possibilities.”

Haar and McGough took both classes and agreed that the lessons they learned would be useful during their remaining time in high school on top of giving them a boost when they start college.

For McGough, who is starting his junior year at Logan High School, the psychology course gave him a good idea of one big way college will be different from high school. At Logan, he’s made it a habit to get all his school work done during the day so he wouldn’t have homework. With the class at Viterbo, there was plenty of assigned reading and a final presentation that required him to fit homework into his time off-campus.

Haar admitted there were some days this summer he felt more like chilling at home instead of going to class. “You just have to look at it as ‘I get to go’ instead of ‘I have to go.’ I think that helps,” said Corbin Haar, who is starting his sophomore year at Holmen High School.

Hanson recruited fellow Viterbo men’s basketball team assistant coach David Mlachnik, an adjunct faculty member, to teach the psychology course. “I’ve been really pleased with the engagement overall with the students,” he said. “They soak up so much knowledge if you just give them the chance.”

Mlachnik said he expected his students to walk away with a lot more self-awareness and ideas on how to cope with stress as well as a good idea of what it will be like to be in college. “For them, college shouldn’t be a big shock,” he said. “They’ll be better prepared to know how to push through a class, even if it’s a hard one.”

Joe Brenner, a junior marketing major at Viterbo, confirmed the effectiveness of the Pathways classes. Brenner took classes the first and second years they were offered. “While I was taking the classes I didn’t realize how helpful they would be when I went to college,” he said. “It made the shock of being a freshman a lot less daunting, and I feel like I’m on top of things because I was better prepared.”

Viterbo’s partnership with the Boys & Girls Clubs goes beyond offering summer classes. Since 2020, Viterbo has offered four-year, full-tuition Pathway to a Bachelor’s Degree scholarships to one or two BGC members annually.

And, of course, their longest partnership involves the creation of the Amie L. Mathy Center for Recreation and Education, a unique Boys & Girls Club/Viterbo University joint project that was the first of its kind in the nation to combine assets and strengths of both organizations for the betterment of youth and the surrounding neighborhood.