We Have Seniors!

It’s hard to believe Metro is in its fourth year of operation, and this year we will have our first graduating class! Many of us have been watching these young people since autumn 2006 when they became the STEM pioneers who took a chance on a new concept, a new learning experience and lot of trial and error. Yes, they will all tell you that they were the guinea pigs. Sometimes that was fun, and sometimes it was frustrating. At Metro, we like to say that we are in a “rapid fail” mode. What that means is that we try things and if they aren’t working, we change them quickly. It can cause a whiplash feeling sometimes, but it also helps us correct our course and keep heading toward the goal.

And what is the goal? Graduation? Hardly! Our goal certainly is college readiness at the end of high school, but we set our sights beyond that to college success, college completion and perserverence toward a fulfilling professional career. Yes, that’s a pretty tall order and we take it very seriously. It’s so exciting to look back over the last three and a half years and realize that the seniors are accomplishing what we had hoped—and more.

Most of our seniors are rarely seen around school this year. They come and go for meetings with their advisors and occasionally have a class or after-school activity, but for the most part many of them are full-time college students. 52 of the 78 seniors have some (or a lot) of college credit; 14 have been on the OSU Dean’s List mulitple times and Metro’s OSU GPA is 3.56%.

In late October we gathered them after school for a meeting to discuss some events that are on their minds these days: graduation and the senior prom.

Two of our terrific partners are helping us with these exciting events. The prom will take place at the Franklin Park Conservatory in May, and graduation will be held at COSI June 12. Each student will graduate from their home high school, but they are also invited to participate in Metro’s celebratory graduation.

Also discussed in the meeting was the college application process. At that time, a few of our seniors had already been accepted into one or more colleges, and a few had even been awarded scholarhips. Every senior has an advisor who is helping them with all of the paperwork, applications and making sure everything is complete. We expect great things as this year unwinds!