The number of Lake Havasu City students who will graduate college before high school has escalated in one year.

From left, Lake Havasu High School Seniors Veronica Escobedo, Nolan Walker, Stephanie Zhang, Konrad Skarpness and Savanna Bailey are five of 19 students expected to graduate in the spring with both a high school and college degree. Jackie Leatherman/News-Herald Photo

Each year, one or two Lake Havasu High School students accomplish the feat.

This spring, 19 will.

“We’ve all had to adapt to teaching ourselves how to study because things have come so easy to us before; so now our teachers expect us to help teach ourselves,” said Senior Savanna Bailey. “I’ve had a couple of anxiety attacks, but it’s all worth it whenever you really do learn more. You have to bring every single thick textbook home with you and you look, obviously, like the nerdiest one in the school carrying all of your books.”

An increasing number of students who have been college bound since elementary school and who have sailed through honors classes are now forming study groups and swapping sleep for homework as they earn their associate’s degrees alongside their high school diplomas.

“I would say last year was probably one of the first years that all of us had to study for a class,” said Senior Konrad Skarpness. “Biology, specifically, that was the first time we started forming study groups. In the past, teachers have always said ‘Oh you guys should form study groups for classes.’ And we never bothered, but last year we started doing study groups. They were really helpful. It definitely felt like a college experience. I think the classes are a lot more stimulating, especially this year, I noticed there’s a lot more hands-on things we get to do instead of open to page 12 and do problems one through five. We are getting to dissect cats in anatomy. It’s a lot more … stimulating opposed to sitting in a desk all day.”

Mohave Community College’s free assessment test is given every spring to any sophomore interested in taking free college-level courses at the high school. If admitted into the college, students began taking dual enrollment classes starting their junior year.

The designated courses meet state academic requirements for both a high school diploma and an associate’s degree. The courses are taught with college textbooks by college-qualified teachers, but at the high school. The teachers are contracted with the Lake Havasu Unified School District according to the district’s pay scale, said Dave White, the academic chair for MCC’s Lake Havasu City campus.

“State law governs how the financial partnership works,” he said. “So everything is very carefully monitored in that way. Both institutions have to be very careful to ensure (there is no) double dipping of any kind. (The district’s Director of Business Services) Missy Wood watches this like a hawk. She is very protective of the district. Essentially, we bill them tuition and they bill (us) for the cost of the instructor and the facility and it washes out.”

When students enter college to earn bachelor’s degrees, the first two years are typically general education classes, such as history, art, and science, that aren’t degree specific; for the last two years, courses are more geared toward major studies.

Essentially the dual-enrollment program allows students to get their first two years of college for practically free, officials said. Their associate’s degrees transfer to four-year colleges and universities and will satisfy most, if not all, basic course requirements needed in those first two years. The new college freshmen can then jump into their major studies and also save them two years of college tuition.

“The economy just hit my household really hard,” Bailey said. “So it’s just been like a struggle with everything. If I can use my knowledge, which I’ve had for as long as I can remember, to save my mom and me money and time, that was just the biggest thing. I remember running home: ‘Guess how much money I’m going to save you!’”

Anne Frazier, the admissions counselor for the local college campus, said there are a few associate degree classes that students will have to pay for and take at the MCC because it’s difficult finding qualified teachers for classes such as Survey of World Art, Intro to Cinema and American Literature.

“So far we haven’t really found anyone for the Arts and Humanities,” Frazier said. “It’s all there except the Arts and Humanities. But it’s still a big, big achievement. This isn’t easy. I think it just really took off and people (wanted) to do it more. Two years ago, one person was doing it and it was publicized well … and it started taking off like wildfire.”

Not only has the number of students at Lake Havasu High School increased, but the number of students here are, by far, the highest among the Tri-Cities. Kingman will graduate three students in the spring and Bullhead City has one graduate, Frazier said.

Lake Havasu High School students said enrolling in the classes was a no-brainer because of the money and time they would save in college and stepping up to more challenging coursework.

“I feel like I learn more in a dual enrollment than a regular class,” said Senior Veronica Escobedo. “I like the pace of the dual enrollment, it’s faster and that’s the way I can learn best.”

Senior Nolan Walker said the courses were “just way more interesting.”

“I’ll be in anatomy or calculus and just have my mind blown in a regular basis,” he said. “It’s just something that makes it really fun for me, having more challenging classes. Plus, I like the people in dual enrollment. Everyone is friends.”

School officials said the solid program and strong partnership between the academic institutions can be credited to the increase.

But students said it’s their academic competitive nature. The senior students said they wanted to beat the number of seniors who graduated with both degrees last year.

“It’s also tightly knit here,” Bailey said. “We all know everybody and I think: ‘Well Nolan said he’s getting his AA, I’m going to, too.’ We are all friends and we all know it will be awesome if we all do something together. It will be like another high school memory if we all do this.”

And they said the junior class might beat them next year in the number of graduates.

“There’s a ton of (underclassmen talking about this),” Bailey said. “There’s a whole bunch. It surprises me. Compared to last year and the year before that and the year before that and how big our classes are? I can only imagine … next year’s and the year after that and the year after that.”

Frazier said she had never “seen students like this before.”

“We have another huge batch coming up next year,” she said. “These kids are absolutely incredible. I’m so proud of them. They are just taking the bull by the horns and saying: ‘I’m going to do this.’ These kids are go getters and they are articulate and they know what they want and I’m always staggered after I talk to one of them because they are so ready to get this done.”

For Skarpness and the remaining 18 Lake Havasu High School students – they are getting it done.

“I consider myself more of a high school student than a college student, at this point,” he said. “So it’s definitely more of a high school experience, but it’s almost like a prelude into what college is like. It just makes sense, too. We are already taking these classes, why not get a degree? I think the happiest moment I’ve had just learning about getting your whole associates degree … is learning that MCC graduates a week before the high school does and it’s a pretty cool feeling. ‘Oh, I’m getting a college degree before a diploma.’ I feel like that’s one of those things you can tack up on a wall.”

You may contact the reporter at jleatherman@havasunews.com