COPPERAS COVE – A dozen Copperas Cove High School seniors will become college graduates Friday, before they finish their high school diplomas.
During Central Texas College’s fall commencement Friday, 12 CCHS students will walk the stage having earned either an associate degree or industry certification.
Of those, four earned HVAC certifications, two earned certifications in Diesel Mechanics and six earned their associate degrees.
Juel Caraballo earned his certification in HVAC and will walk the stage Friday.
“I’m taking my skill that I learned to go with me to either trade school or the military,” Caraballo said. “I’m planning to go to one of those after high school.”
Nathaniel Kielpinski will also graduate Friday with his HVAC certification.
“I’ve just been trying to stay organized and make sure I have all my stuff done,” Kielpinski said when asked what advice he had for students exploring dual credit opportunities.
Jayden Gonzalez also earned his certification in HVAC.
“My plan after high school is to be an apprentice for a little bit, work under someone, and then go on my own and try to start my own business,” Gonzalez said.
The final HVAC certification this semester was earned by Christopher Lane.
“I’m starting to apply for jobs now, hoping that I can get everything,” Lane said.
Miguel Castanon earned his certification in Diesel Mechanics and will walk the stage Friday night.
“Now, I get to expand my knowledge on automotive, which is awesome,” Castanon said. “I always found cards interesting. So, with my diesel certificate, I can understand a car and after I took a class at CTC, it’s a lot easier to understand.”
James Wright will also graduate with his certification in Diesel Mechanics on Friday.
“I’ll go straight into the workforce, so I don’t have to go and do college after,” Wright said.
Jaiden Cruz earned his associate degree as part of CCISD’s Early College Program with Central Texas College.
“It’s going to give me a lot of confidence, because now I know what type of structures it looks like, the types of class structures, how some of the papers are written, since I know those formats, now,” Cruz said.
Charity Galiana also earned her associate degree.
“I now have that extra semester to go into the workforce and gain experience that a lot of my peers might not have if they’re going to school full-time throughout that second semester, so I get a bit of a step ahead, a foot forward in the industry,” Galiana said. “I want to go into finance, so I’m going to look jobs in finance that I can get experience in, just knowledge as I do apply for college so I have that experience going into it.”
Sadie Mckee is also graduating with her associate degree.
“When I get to college, I can focus more on the classes that are what I want to do,” Mckee said. “So, I’m trying to get all of the classes that I need out of the way.”
Brooke Nickerson also finished her associate degree as part of the early college program.
“It’s been very difficult because I’ve also worked part-time doing this,” Nickerson said. “So, trying to stay motivated to do my classwork and not procrastinate everything has been a very tough challenge. Also, balancing out my high school work and then my college work has been very, very tough.”
Bridgette Simpson will walk the stage Friday, having also earned her associate degree.
“I have a good group of friends an my family, they’re all supportive,” Simpson said. “There’s definitely a bunch of people that will help support you. I would definitely tell them to find Mrs. Jost and if they have the opportunity to take classes like this, I would tell them to do it.”
Finally, Liam Thompson earned his associate degree Friday.
“The biggest challenge was the environment of high school transitioning to college,” Thompson said. “People aren’t watching you as much to make sure you’re getting stuff done. It’s kind of all up to you, so that transition is a little difficult.”
With these 12 students graduating Friday, that means 21 Copperas Cove HS students have earned their associate degrees through CTC, alone, since the start of the 2023-24 school year. With this latest cohort, 11 students have earned industry certifications through dual enrollment with CTC in that same time.
Copperas Cove ISD expanded its dual credit offerings for the 2024-25 school year, adding new partnerships with Tarleton State University and Ranger College to existing partnerships with Central Texas College and McMurry University.
For more information on the district’s dual credit program, visit the Early College Program page on CCISD’s website.