YCUSD 'proud' of HS students who earned degrees
May 7—Yuba College recognized 38 high school students from Yuba City Unified School District at the Early College Sash Presentation on Monday.
The ceremony, held at the Yuba College Theatre on its Marysville campus, celebrated the work of district high school students who have successfully earned their associate degrees.
"Yuba City Unified is proud of these students and their accomplishments," assistant superintendent of education services for Yuba City Unified School District, Tino Guzman, said at the presentation. "Just take this in for one second kiddos, you're graduating college before high school."
He said that is pretty awesome, and he advised students not to grow up too fast.
"Enjoy the journey, revel in the experience," Guzman said at the presentation. "Adulthood awaits, and it's not going anywhere. Live and thrive; you have time."
Students in the Yuba City Unified School District Early College Program follow a four-year course outlined to meet high school requirements and earn an associate degree in Social and Behavioral Science.
"The goal of the program is to have each student meet the A-G requirements to apply to the California State University and/or University of California systems and earn a Yuba College Associate Degree," according to a webpage about the program on the district's website.
Yuba City Unified School District does information nights with their eighth grade students about the program.
"They have to understand that the workload is more and the expectations are higher," Guzman said.
A student recognized at the ceremony, Jose Torres, attends Yuba City High School and is interested in becoming a software programmer and designer or a security network specialist.
"(Already having a degree) definitely gives me a little bit of an ego boost, but I try not to be too narcissistic," Torres said.
His stepmom, Jennifer Corbella, laughed in response to his comment.
"No, you should be so proud of yourself," Corbella said. "This kid was staying up every single day. I mean, he was missing out on things with friends, going places, I mean being a normal high school kid. Because he would come home and have hours of homework for college and high school, I don't want to say he sacrificed so much, but he kept his eye on the goal, and he did it."
Another student recognized at the ceremony, Kaiya Greco, goes to River Valley High School. Greco said that she will be going to UC San Diego for neurobiology, and her plan down the line is to eventually get further credentials and become a psychiatrist. She said that Yuba College professor Paige Sneso was a great help in launching her interest in psychology.
Overall, Greco said the early college program was a unique experience, but she enjoyed it.
"So what we would do is in the mornings, we go to the (Yuba College Sutter County Center), and we attend classes there, and then for the rest of the day we go back to the high school and do our high school classes there," Greco said. "There were times where I got worried, but with enough hard work and dedication it ended up working out."
Greco said the program could help her pay less for college.
"But I also think it just gives me a new level of experience," Greco said.
