Columbia Gorge Community College is receiving a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Distance Learning and Telemedicine Grant program to establish a dual-credit distance learning program for rural students in the Columbia River Gorge.  The $489,623 grant will go toward developing specialized classrooms at 13 high schools in Sherman, Wasco, Klickitat, Skamania, Gilliam, and Wheeler counties.  In addition, two broadcasting rooms from which classes will be taught will be created on the CGCC campuses in Hood River and Wasco counties.  The multi-year project will initially serve the region’s 2,499 high school students and will eventually be expanded to benefit all 8,096 students in the region’s rural schools.