How about a diploma, and a degree?
That's exactly what Arp High School seniors Joslyn Swinney and Ryleigh McLouth are achieving in the month of May.
📺WATCH them walk across the stage & receive their TJC degree📺
Taking advantage of Arp High School's career and technology dual credit program, Swinney and McLouth both completed associates degrees from Tyler Junior College.
As a matter of fact, they graduated from TJC two weeks before crossing the stage at Arp High School.
And to top that of, Swinney and McLouth were impressively summa cum laude, and magna cum laude respectively.
Swinney earned an Associate of Arts in Dance as she has become an accomplished pre-professional division dancer at the TJC Academy of Dance.
She will continue her fine arts studies at the University of Oklahoma's prestigious modern dance program. Swinney will work towards a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Modern Dance Performance.
While at the TJC Academy of Dance since 2017, Swinney has performed in seven annual Nutcrackers and six spring shows including Sleeping Beauty, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, Cinderella, and Peter Pan.
She also became an instructor for the academy's recreational ballet classes.
McLouth attained an Associate of Arts in Criminal Justice.
She plans to attend UT Tyler to pursue a Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice, while earning minors in pre-law and juvenile justice.
McLouth then intends to go to Baylor University with aspirations to become a high profile criminal prosecutor for the State of Texas.
Both McLouth and Swinney are members of Arp High School's chapter of National Honor Society. The two of them graduate with honors from Arp High School Thursday May 23 at 7:00 p.m.
The ceremony is scheduled to take place at Arp High School's Clark Wayne Roberts Auditorium and will be streamed live on the Arp High School Facebook page.
While over the years many Arp High School students have earned a good amount of college credit (through our dual credit program) before graduating high school, the current Arp ISD administration believes this is the first time during their tenure that an Arp student completes an associate degree while still in high school.