A record 451 students enrolled in the Running Start program this fall, surpassing the previous high total of 363 students last fall, according to an announcement from Wenatchee Valley College.
     The Wenatchee campus has 400 of the high school students taking college classes while Omak has 51.
     Advising for winter quarter Running Start students started Oct. 27, with a mandatory orientation Nov. 13, according to a WVC announcement.
     Orientation begin at 5 p.m. on the Omak campus.
     Running Start coordinator Ann Brown said many students in the program enroll in political science classes to meet contemporary world problems and citizen Washington requirements at their high schools.
     Those courses include state and local government, international relations, introduction to economics, general psychology and social problems.
     A number of Running Start students also take English composition to fulfill a junior or senior high school English requirement, she said.
     Students preparing for the WVC nursing program or a degree in medicine, dentistry, dental hygiene, pharmacy, veterinary medicine and related fields enroll in biology, chemistry and math classes.
     "Our business transfer classes are also very popular with our Running Start students preparing for transfer to a four-year institution to major in business," Brown said.
     Last spring, 54 Running Start students graduated with their associate in arts and sciences degrees at the same time they received their high school diplomas, according to the announcement.
     They came from 13 different high schools in north central Washington, including Okanogan. WVC also retained 47 Running Start seniors who returned to the college this fall to complete their AAS or associate of technical sciences degrees.
     Jamie McLaughlin was hired in early October as an academic adviser to assist Brown with the record number of enrolled Running Start students. McLaughlin was a Running Start student at Lower Columbia College in Longview, and holds a bachelor's degree in psychology from Western Washington University.
     More information about Running Start at the Omak campus is available from Livia Millard, 422-7814, or Tanya Pinson, 422-7810.