(Seguin) – Although the Seguin High School Class of 2020 has officially said good-bye, the drive and determination of 19 of its members have been left behind in hopes of inspiring the next batch of incoming freshmen who look to take on the journey of securing an associate’s degree in 2024. Leaving behind that example are the SHS ECHS students who have each earned a high school diploma and an associate degree from St. Phillips College. Anna Lisa Garza, the director of Seguin’s Early College High School, says the school could not wrap up the year without acknowledging this very invested group of students.
Garza says this class marks the third cohort of ECHS students who have earned a jumpstart to their future while saving thousands of dollars for their families.
“As far as the last three graduating cohorts, we had our 65 associate degree students over the last three years earning over 3,900 college credits that they’ve learned over the last three cohorts and that is a savings of over $787, 000 for those three cohorts of students and so when we talk about the early college high school, that is significant. That does not include the other students who did dual credit but who didn’t earn an associate degree. That’s just our associate degree students. So over the last three years, that’s the amount of money that has been saved by our early college high school students and their parents. At first, it was something that parents quite didn’t believe us when we said it was free of charge and now, it’s just kind of become part of the culture. People now talk about it in the community and they advocate for it. They believe in it. They support it and so I think the culture has changed to – it’s part of not just Seguin High School but part of Seguin now,” said Garza.
Garza says what might be even more inspiring is the impact of being able to get that college degree under their belt.
“The significant number of first generation students who have gone through our program and then when we have them reflect on their four years, the first thing they say is that they want to inspire and set an example for their siblings or for their cousins and that’s huge because they want to change their family’s history. They want to be able to inspire their little brothers or their little sisters to do the same because when you hear our first generation students say that and share that and it’s no longer ‘I think my s brother or sister can do it.’ They say ‘if I can do it, they can do it’ and that’s powerful,” said Garza.
Garza says although the local program has changed from its original blueprint, the opportunities that exist for all students remain quite significant.
“We had to change our model so we went from a comprehensive model to a school within a school and so having to change our model that was driven by a new blueprint that the state of Texas TEA agency (Texas Education Agency) ruled out but the opportunities still look the same for all of our students. So even if you are not in Early College High School, students still have the opportunity to earn up to 42 college credit hours which is huge and, they have that opportunity or they can earn a certification through our CTE (Career and Technical Education) program so I always like to brag on all of our programs and opportunities that we offer for our students because even if they are not in ECHS, there are still a good variety of opportunities for students at Seguin High School,” Garza.
As for this specific cohort of ECHS students, Garza adds that the group had an amazing amount of drive and determination. She says the journey was not an easy one and many of them encountered academic or personal obstacles, if not both – yet she says they persevered and never gave up.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this group of graduates will not participate in their college graduation until December.
Nonetheless, the students were still recognized for having obtained their college degree weeks before walking the stage and being handed their high school diploma.