Ten Crothersville High School seniors recently completed The University Academy and then received an associate degree in general studies from Ivy Tech Community College during a graduation ceremony at Columbus North High School. Front from left are Ella Plasse, Kaylyn Holman, Kennadi Lakins and Kiarra Lakins. Back from left are Cody Hall, Jalen Gibson, Karley Gillis, Brayden Morris, Zach Helt and Haley Williams.
Submitted photo
CROTHERSVILLE — Donning black caps and gowns, 10 Crothersville High School students received diplomas for completing an associate degree program.
Yes, that’s right. For 10 years, Crothersville students have been given the unique opportunity to take college-level courses and earn enough credits to receive a college degree before they are handed their high school diploma.
The program began at Crothersville 11 years ago, but those seniors couldn’t earn a degree. They only were able to earn some additional dual credit courses to carry into college.
Since then, students at Crothersville and Austin high schools have been able to earn an associate degree in general studies from Ivy Tech Community College at no cost.
Dual credit courses are taught by qualified high school teachers and Ivy Tech professors, and earning the degree results in students spending a year or two less and saving thousands of dollars in pursuing a higher college degree.
The program was known as the Austin Crothersville Early College Initiative until changing to The University Academy in recent years.
On May 14, Crothersville seniors Jalen Gibson, Karley Gillis, Cody Hall, Zach Helt, Kaylyn Holman, Kennadi Lakins, Kiarra Lakins, Brayden Morris, Ella Plasse and Haley Williams participated in Ivy Tech’s graduation ceremony at Columbus North High School.
“It was pretty cool to be sitting there at the graduation and everyone around us was 20, 24, so I’m thinking, ‘We’re still in high school,’” Williams said. “It was just a relief to be done.”
At their high school graduation Friday night, the seniors will all know each other. But at the Ivy Tech graduation, they didn’t know anyone except for their classmates.
“It felt really cool because I was like, ‘OK, this is real,’” Hall said.
“I was quite nervous the whole time sitting next to people I didn’t know, but it was a lot of fun. It was really cool,” Morris said.
The seniors all started the early college program as sophomores.
“My brother did it, so my mom was like, ‘That’s a good idea,’ so I just went with it,” Williams said.
Hall’s sister had completed the program, too. She started at Crothersville and then went to Austin for her senior year.
He remembers being presented the option of the early college program or enrolling in C4 Columbus Area Career Connection.
“I went home and I was like, ‘Hey, mom, some people came in and were talking to us all about this stuff.’ Then my sister was also there, and she was like, ‘Cody, you’ve got to do the early college’ because that’s what she did,” he said. “She was like, ‘It’s going to be really good. It takes two years off of your normal college, and you’ll just graduate straight with an associate,’ so I was like, ‘OK.’”
Morris said he originally wanted to do C4, but he got mixed up and signed up for the early college program.
“It was mainly the influence of my parents,” he said. “They thought it would be a great opportunity for me.”
Taking high school and college courses at the same time wasn’t too bad for Williams at first.
“It has gotten harder over time, but really, in the beginning, it wasn’t that difficult,” she said. “I don’t think it was that bad because we started online with the college-level courses (due to the COVID-19 pandemic), so it wasn’t that big of a change because we didn’t have to actually be in two-hour classes with people.”
Hall said he may have had more essays to write, but he managed to get all of his work done.
“There were more things I had to do and more things to get done on time, and it was kind of difficult juggling everything, but you just take one thing at a time and you should be fine,” he said.
Morris said the program was a good challenge.
“It was a lot harder to get adjusted to compared to just normal high school stuff,” he said. “There was a lot more academic prowess. It was a lot tougher on me.”
Fortunately, the 10 seniors could rely on each other to ensure they succeeded with the program.
“We are a really tight circle,” Hall said. “We helped each other with a lot of things.”
Now that they have received their associate degree, the seniors appreciate the opportunity and the accomplishment.
“A lot of schools, around here especially, don’t have it, so it was just nice,” Williams said.
“I’m surprised our small school even offers it, to be honest with you,” Morris said. “I just didn’t really think we would offer it with how small we are, but I really do like how we do have it for everyone and it is an option to get it.”
After high school, Williams and Hall both plan to attend Indiana University Southeast. She wants to study psychology to become a child advocate, and he wants to study business to work in financial management. Morris said he may consider going to a trade school in the future, but he wants to enter the workforce after graduation.
All three encourage other Crothersville students to give The University Academy or C4 a shot.
“Do something that will help you with your college. Even if you’re not going to college, it’s still good. It may seem scary because it’s college courses. Sophomore year, that’s not really something you do, but it’s definitely worth it,” Williams said.
“Getting an associate degree looks really good on paper,” Morris said.
“You could do a lot of things with an associate degree, especially straight out of high school,” Hall said.