For Immediate Release

Contact: Anthony Twyman
Public Relations Coordinator
Community College of Philadelphia
Office: (215) 751-8082
atwyman@ccp.edu

High School Students Earn Diploma and College Credits Through Innovative Information Technology Program

PHILADELPHIA, June 08, 2006 - Earleena Sewell, a senior at John Bartram High School, and Michael Lightner, a senior at Strawberry Mansion High School, will be in the enviable position of attending two graduations this month.

One graduation will be at their respective high schools. The other will be at Community College of Philadelphia, where they will graduate from the high school portion of the Advanced Tech at College program, which allows high school students, interested in careers in information technology, to earn college credits while completing their last two years of high school on the College's campus.

"It was really challenging," said Sewell, 18, of Southwest Philadelphia, who said she was thankful for the teachers, counselors and mentors in the Advanced Tech at College program who became like a second family to her.

"It was a mix of students from different high schools," said Lightner, 18, of North Philadelphia. "It proved that people can get together from different sections of the city for positive change in their lives."

Sewell and Lightner will be among the students honored at the program's first graduation at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, June 14 in the Rotunda in the College's Mint Building on Spring Garden Street between 16th and 17th Streets.

Both students said they will be the first among their siblings to graduate from high school and, if all goes well, they expect to be the first to graduate from college.

Advanced Tech at College is a dual enrollment program that gives students the opportunity to earn up to 24 college credits while completing their high school diploma

requirements. Full completion of the program entails obtaining an associate's degree and then either entering the workforce or continuing on to a four-year college or university.

The goal of the program is to improve student retention and ultimately increase college graduation rates and job preparedness, particularly in the field of information technology.

Funded by the U.S. Department of Education, the program is a partnership between the College, the School District of Philadelphia and SEPTA. In their junior year of high school, students participate in internships at the College and at Philadelphia-based businesses and nonprofit organizations.

About 30 students are admitted into the program each year. Students come from Philadelphia public schools that have low attendance and graduation rates and high dropout rates. This year's graduates are from the Bartram, Strawberry Mansion, West Philadelphia, Bok, Furness and Kensington high schools.

To qualify for the program, students must have at least a 2.5 grade point average, and they must have maintained an attendance of at least 90 percent in their freshmen and sophomore years. Students also must demonstrate an interest in pursuing a career in information technology.

Sewell liked Community College of Philadelphia so much that she plans to attend in the fall. Originally, she wanted to be an information technology teacher. Now, she is leaning toward a possible career as a paralegal. Lightner first plans to enter the Army, then to attend college, where he hopes to major in Business Administration. "I want to be an entrepreneur, and I want to be a teacher," he said.