In 2021, ninth-grade students at Glen Oaks High School in East Baton Rouge, Louisiana, were given the opportunity to participate in a pilot program that allowed them to enroll in high school classes as well as college courses.

The Pathways to Bright Futures program was created by the East Baton Rouge Parish School System to assist students in earning both their high school diplomas and college degrees. As part of the dual enrollment program, each participating student received a personalized academic advising session to review their progress and overall goals.

Recently, 18 students from the first cohort of the pilot program took part in two graduation ceremonies within the same week. In the first ceremony, they received their Associate of Arts/Louisiana Transfer degree in humanities from Baton Rouge Community College. Four days later, they walked across the stage again at a second ceremony, where they were awarded their high school diplomas from Glen Oaks High School.

“I still can't believe it's really happening,” said graduate Milan Beauchamp in a story that appeared in the Advocate. “I'm graduating from college before high school.”

The four-year journey to simultaneously graduate from high school and college was not easy for the students, who often relied on one another to manage the increased course load.

“We started it all together, so I knew we were going to finish out,” said graduating senior Taylor Jordan.

Suguna Mayweather, the academic coordinator for the program at Glen Oaks when it began, noted that the students who earned their associate's degree worked together throughout.  

“They had that camaraderie and they just kept encouraging each other,” she said. “I feel like we really built a culture around children really having expectations for themselves.”