Graduating college with your associate’s degree before you even have a high school diploma sounds like a fantasy for most high school students, but at GRC students have the opportunity to participate in the Bluegrass College Academy.
BCA offers juniors and seniors the opportunity to continue being a high school student and further their education, while being a college student at the same time.
Thirty GRC students take advantage of this unique and free education opportunity. Participants of this program get to enroll in 15 or more credit hours that meet high school and college requirements on the BCTC Winchester campus.
In order to participate in the Academy, a set of requirements must be met. Students must have an unweighted GPA of 3.2 or higher or achieve the college readiness ACT benchmark scores, and also have to have completed Algebra 2 or be enrolled in the course at BCTC.
Not only does this program offer students a great education, but it also gives students the opportunity to have more of a college-structured feel of classes and schedules. Students get to pick their schedule that is structured specifically for them instead of the normal 8:20-3:20, 7-hour school day.
GRC junior Sam Clements has taken advantage of this opportunity. Although this seems like a more laid back form of learning and in a lot of ways it is, it is still college level classes. “The environment is definitely more inviting, but the work is challenging,” he says. “It gives a full taste of what college is going to be like.”
This program aims to set students up for what their futures are going to look like.
“The college environment is honestly my favorite but it’s very self motivated,” Clements says. “You have to be responsible for everything. If you miss a class you might not get the information that day, so it’s important to get to class and be present.”
Even though the work is challenging it is nothing that GRC students wouldn’t be able to grasp easily. “Adjusting to this was difficult at first but as time went on I got the hang of it,” says Bluegrass College Academy attendee Maddie Redmon.
Despite the fact that the courses can be challenging, the class size is nowhere near the capacity of normal college classes. “Only having 15 people in some classes allows teachers and students to build better relationships with each other,” Redmon says.
Some students might be apprehensive to leave the high school experience. But Redmon has seen the GRC school spirit spread to the BCTC campus too. “On game days a couple of us wear our warm-ups and our teachers get invested in our sports at GRC,” Redmon says.
BCTC offers their students fun and interactive ways that aim to keep the environment feeling fun and light. “BCTC also has days like snow cone day or taco day which are all free and there’s always snacks on campus for all students,” Clemets says.
This unique program offers students who are looking to further their education and attend a university the perfect way to experience a taste of what that will look like.
“BCA is different from GRC in many ways including the scheduling, curriculum, classes, and teachers,” Redmon says. “But in many ways these changes are exactly what I was looking for and have set me up for future success.”
