Buckeye High School and Tri-C launches associate's degree pathway for students

YORK TWP. — A group of Buckeye High School students will be working toward earning an associate degree by the time they graduate from high school, starting this school year. Buckeye Schools and Tri-C came together for a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Tuesday to celebrate the opening of the newly formed space for the Associate's Academy and the College Credit Plus lab within the high school. High School Principal Adam Snook said the space used to be the media center and was identified as the most collegiate space in the building. The media center was moved to another location within the school. "We had to build a wall, but more importantly, we felt that it was important to ensure that our students felt college furniture," he said. "We received a quote, which was about $30,000, so I reached out to our education foundation and the Jenkins Family Endowment. They were over the moon to help support us, and they supported us fully in our furniture needs for this space." Through the Associate's Academy, sophomores will work their way through a prescribed blueprint of classes to earn both their high school diploma and an associate degree from Tri-C at graduation, Snook said. The new space is a place where professors can come in, and virtual learning can happen. "We will also be using many of our (College Credit Plus) certified teachers who are already on staff to be teaching any class that fits within that pathway," he said. "We're able to utilize many of our current staff who are already employed." Snook said there will be space to house the program at the new high school. This year, 27 students gained admission to the Associate's Academy, and the program will grow naturally over time. "There's a waiting list," he said. "Students had to test in and gain admittance in Tri-C. In year two, there will be another batch of students." The space will also be used as a lab for students who are taking remote college classes, Snook said. A Buckeye staff member will be there to support students in learning how to be a college student at a young age. "Students who historically were very solid academic students were struggling not because of the content but because of the pace, the rigor and the college demands that they weren't necessarily ready for," he said. "Being a high school student and a college student are very big roles. We want to be able to best support them, and there's no better place to do that than here on our campus." When students face a hurdle at home, they may not know how to find answers, which can keep them from being as successful as they could be, Snook said. "We're utilizing our teachers who are already Buckeye employees and bringing our students on campus to provide them academic support that they wouldn't receive otherwise," he said. "We wanted to ensure that we were providing them those supports that they need to truly demonstrate their academic ability that we felt wasn't happening when they were left to their own devices." Snook said Tri-C has invested in the program and is using it as a model for future College Credit Plus students at Buckeye and other schools. "We are planting seeds of hope through this academy," Tri-C President Michael Baston said. "We are saying to those students who raised their hands and said, 'I want to try, and I want to start,' that we see you, we support you and we will encourage you." Contact reporter Madisyn Woodring at (330) 721-4049 or mwoodring@medina-gazette.com.