{"id":2846,"date":"2012-02-07T08:23:15","date_gmt":"2012-02-07T13:23:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/?p=2846"},"modified":"2012-02-07T17:56:35","modified_gmt":"2012-02-07T22:56:35","slug":"crossing-the-finish-line","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/index.php\/2012\/02\/crossing-the-finish-line\/","title":{"rendered":"Crossing the finish line"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Cam Macko
\n<\/strong>managing copy<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

While most students bolted out the doors for semester break on Jan. 19 for a long four-day weekend, forced to come back the next Tuesday, a few seniors walked out of those doors for the last time in their high school lives. <\/p>\n

Through prior planning and use of the MPS curriculum, it is possible to achieve the minimal number of credits to graduate by the end of the first semester of senior year. <\/p>\n

Recent graduate Claudia Healey managed to graduate in only seven semesters by using seventh hours to her advantage and by taking two semester classes of English and math this past semester in order to fill the MPS requirement. <\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone graduates with 24 credits, but you only need 22 if you take six classes every year,\u201d Healey said. \u201cSo if you take seventh hours, you can get out early. And then your senior year, you just have to double up on a math and an English [class during] first semester. I think I took two years of seventh hours, total. It just puts you ahead in credits.\u201d<\/p>\n

Healey didn\u2019t realize she wanted to graduate early until the end of first semester of junior year.<\/p>\n

Another recent graduate, Jason Paris, had a similar story in order to graduate early. <\/p>\n

\u201cI took a seventh hour all through high school, except this semester,\u201d Paris said. \u201cAnd I\u2019m doubling up on math and English.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nearly every student is required a total of 22 credits, four being in math, four in English, three credits for both science and social studies, one visual and performing arts credit, a half of a credit for both Lifelong Fitness and Health & Wellness and six credits for general electives. The MPS school district also requires one full year of math and English in a student\u2019s senior year, so taking two math and two English classes in one semester is, technically, one full year of those subjects.<\/p>\n

It is relatively difficult to be able to graduate early, and several things must be taken into account before a student can do this.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s more difficult now with the graduation requirements, having to have a year of math during their senior year and four years of English,\u201d DHS counselor Lori Hallberg said. \u201cSo if somebody wants to graduate early they really need to plan in advance, maybe even starting in ninth grade, taking seventh hours and doubling up on at least English and planning so they can graduate early.\u201d<\/p>\n

Students have different reasons or see different advantages for wanting to graduate early. Paris wanted to take a few college courses to get a head-start on college, while Healey said she just didn\u2019t like high school. <\/p>\n

\u201cOne advantage I would see is a lot of colleges, you select your classes based on how many credits you have, so if you have more credits [than] other students in your grade, you\u2019d be able to select classes and be able to get the classes that you want,\u201d Hallberg said. <\/p>\n

She added that if a student wanted to take a college program that went longer than four years, starting a semester early could put that person at an advantage in that they might be able to finish college in four years, plus that extra semester. <\/p>\n

Paris said that he would be taking math and English classes at Delta College during what would be his second semester of senior year, while Healey said she would be getting a job in order to help pay for college. <\/p>\n

They will both walk with the senior class at graduation.<\/p>\n

Seniors who want to come back for other senior events like commencement or prom are allowed to, but still have to heed school rules and guidelines. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey can come to prom but they still have to follow all school rules and policies and things like that,\u201d assistant principal Ted Davis said. \u201cJust because they\u2019ve finished their courses and don\u2019t need to come back to take classes they would still, when they come back on school property, need to follow school rules. No senior pranks and that kind of stuff. This whole timeframe leading up to commencement, if they did something crazy, that could jeopardize if they do get to walk.\u201d <\/p>\n

Students may have to miss a lot of senior events like senior breakfast or prom that comes with the second semester at senior year and graduating early isn\u2019t for everyone. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt really depends on the person,\u201d Hallberg said. \u201cI think for most students, staying here for the full senior year really helps to continue preparing them for college. In the second half of the senior year they have prom and other senior-type activities that they would otherwise miss.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By planning ahead, some seniors choose to start life after high school earlier than most<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[43],"class_list":["post-2846","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-3feature","tag-dow-high-students"],"yoast_head":"\nCrossing the finish line - UPDATE ONLINE<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/index.php\/2012\/02\/crossing-the-finish-line\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Crossing the finish line - UPDATE ONLINE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By planning ahead, some seniors choose to start life after high school earlier than most\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/index.php\/2012\/02\/crossing-the-finish-line\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"UPDATE ONLINE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DHSUpdate\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-02-07T13:23:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-02-07T22:56:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Update\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@DowHighUpdate\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@DowHighUpdate\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Update\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/index.php\\\/2012\\\/02\\\/crossing-the-finish-line\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/index.php\\\/2012\\\/02\\\/crossing-the-finish-line\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Update\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/be39f258dafaaac3e98f5951fe5e9198\"},\"headline\":\"Crossing the finish line\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-02-07T13:23:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-02-07T22:56:35+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/index.php\\\/2012\\\/02\\\/crossing-the-finish-line\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":792,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Dow High Students\"],\"articleSection\":[\"FEATURE\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/index.php\\\/2012\\\/02\\\/crossing-the-finish-line\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/index.php\\\/2012\\\/02\\\/crossing-the-finish-line\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/index.php\\\/2012\\\/02\\\/crossing-the-finish-line\\\/\",\"name\":\"Crossing the finish line - UPDATE ONLINE\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-02-07T13:23:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-02-07T22:56:35+00:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/index.php\\\/2012\\\/02\\\/crossing-the-finish-line\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/\",\"name\":\"UPDATE ONLINE\",\"description\":\"H.H. Dow High School's award winning news source\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Update Online\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/09\\\/Wordpress-icon.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/09\\\/Wordpress-icon.png\",\"width\":256,\"height\":256,\"caption\":\"Update Online\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/DHSUpdate\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/DowHighUpdate\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/dowhighupdate\\\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/be39f258dafaaac3e98f5951fe5e9198\",\"name\":\"Update\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/index.php\\\/author\\\/bickmorebd\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Crossing the finish line - UPDATE ONLINE","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/index.php\/2012\/02\/crossing-the-finish-line\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Crossing the finish line - UPDATE ONLINE","og_description":"By planning ahead, some seniors choose to start life after high school earlier than most","og_url":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/index.php\/2012\/02\/crossing-the-finish-line\/","og_site_name":"UPDATE ONLINE","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DHSUpdate\/","article_published_time":"2012-02-07T13:23:15+00:00","article_modified_time":"2012-02-07T22:56:35+00:00","author":"Update","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@DowHighUpdate","twitter_site":"@DowHighUpdate","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Update","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/index.php\/2012\/02\/crossing-the-finish-line\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/index.php\/2012\/02\/crossing-the-finish-line\/"},"author":{"name":"Update","@id":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/#\/schema\/person\/be39f258dafaaac3e98f5951fe5e9198"},"headline":"Crossing the finish line","datePublished":"2012-02-07T13:23:15+00:00","dateModified":"2012-02-07T22:56:35+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/index.php\/2012\/02\/crossing-the-finish-line\/"},"wordCount":792,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/#organization"},"keywords":["Dow High Students"],"articleSection":["FEATURE"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/index.php\/2012\/02\/crossing-the-finish-line\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/index.php\/2012\/02\/crossing-the-finish-line\/","url":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/index.php\/2012\/02\/crossing-the-finish-line\/","name":"Crossing the finish line - UPDATE ONLINE","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-02-07T13:23:15+00:00","dateModified":"2012-02-07T22:56:35+00:00","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/index.php\/2012\/02\/crossing-the-finish-line\/"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/","name":"UPDATE ONLINE","description":"H.H. Dow High School's award winning news source","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/#organization","name":"Update Online","url":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Wordpress-icon.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Wordpress-icon.png","width":256,"height":256,"caption":"Update Online"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DHSUpdate\/","https:\/\/x.com\/DowHighUpdate","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/dowhighupdate\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/#\/schema\/person\/be39f258dafaaac3e98f5951fe5e9198","name":"Update","url":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/index.php\/author\/bickmorebd\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2846","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2846"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2846\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2868,"href":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2846\/revisions\/2868"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2846"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2846"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2846"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}