CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Students and teachers at Mathis High School celebrated Thursday their new B rating from the Texas Education Agency.
They celebrated in Pirate style with the first annual Gear Up celebration to honor dual-credit seniors. The Gear Up program comes from a state grant designed to increase early college awareness and readiness for low-income school districts.
Since the program came to Mathis, 14 seniors have earned college degrees and 17 seniors are expected to graduate with degrees this year.
"It's essential to me, actually, because I've accomplished so much. I already have two years of college out of the way, so when I graduate high school, I'll have my associates degree also," student Genevie Cortez said.
70 seniors will be earning associate degrees in 2019 from the program.