You have seen early college students walking on campus, eating in the cafeteria, and in your classes. Sometimes you can distinguish these students from college students, but sometimes you cannot. This article is to help you get to know your younger schoolmates and their school within a school.
There are about 120 students who attend the early college at Guilford. There are nine in twelfth grade, 19 in eleventh grade, 40 in tenth grade, and 51 in ninth grade. They came from different schools in Guilford County.
Many of the students have already achieved incredible things. There are several students who are black belts in Tae-Kwon-Do. There are a few bilingual or trilingual students. There are several amazing musicians who play instruments ranging from piano, guitar, bass, trumpet, and percussion.
The early college at Guilford, formulated in late June, had a rocky start. The math teacher, Valerie Bouldin, was hired two weeks before school began. When school started, early college still lacked a Spanish teacher. Melanie Buckland was hired several weeks into the school year, but now the class is on schedule. The current science teacher joined the faculty in November.
The school had purchased 10 new computers, and before they were even out of the boxes, they were stolen. New computers were obtained, but this created a problem in the beginning. Books were also difficult to acquire for most of the classes. The majority of the students did not get books until several weeks into the school year.
As you know, eleventh- and twelfth-grade students attend college courses with Guilford College students.
Ninth- and tenth-grade students use the basement of Frank Family Science Center and a room in Bauman for their classes.
These younger students can take environmental science; biology; a variety of required math courses; English; physical education; a course called Echoes of an Era; Economic, Legal, Political, and Social Applications (ELPSA); U.S. history; and world history. They finish most of their required courses before they begin their Guilford College courses in eleventh grade, and they receive their diploma after completing twelfth grade.
Early College students at Guilford have created 15 clubs. For example, the drama club plans to perform “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown” later in the year.
Science Olympiad will compete in Feb. The math club has already competed, and will attend another competition in late Feb.
The Early College Sports Association (ECSA) practices every Friday and won its first game against a group of students from Grimsley High School last week.
The New Garden Friends’ Friends go to New Garden Friends School once a week to work and play with children.
The Debate Team went to a competition earlier this year and placed second, fourth, and fifth in various events.
The yearbook staff is working hard to create a small annual. A newspaper is published monthly. Greensboro Youth Council (GYC) organizes events for the city, and conducts service activities or collects food for the homeless.
Early college at Guilford is a great school. The majority of the students think of it as a dream come true and are grateful to have Guilford College campus as our home.
Hadley Adams Iliff is a tenth grade student enrolled in the Early College Program at Guilford.