To celebrate the graduating seniors who received college credit hours during any point of high school, Lakeview had a mini-party in the gym during A4 on Wednesday. The students were each given a certificate with the number of dual credit hours they have in total, and they were given cupcakes and chips provided by Lakeview and Eastfield Community College.

“They were trying to make us feel proud of our accomplishment of getting lots of college credit hours in high school, and I really appreciate it,” senior Benjamin Tolson, who has 75 hours alone, said.

Combined, the students at LC collected 7801 hours of college credit. That is almost 2000 hours more than last year’s total – a 32 percent increase from last year. College and Career Magnet Advisor Timi Creekmore said that those hours equate to almost eight million dollars saved.

“This is close to my heart because I remember how much I had to pay for my college,” Creekmore said. “I had to work full-time to pay for my degree and it took me eight and a half years. I know how hard it was to pay for my school, and I’m so proud of these students for getting a head start.”

Senior Ivette Hernandez, who has taken a combination of dual credit and AP courses, said that it felt relieving to have some college hours under her belt.

“It’s like a head start I have,” Hernandez said. “Taking AP and DC classes has benefited me because I have a better idea of how a college classroom environment gonna is be. It’s prepared me a lot to go into a new field I haven’t gone into yet.”

Creekmore said that she wanted to congratulate all the DC students for the hard work they put into the program.

“The students have so much more rigor and advanced stuff that goes in [their] schooling on top of being active in other things,” she said. “For them to earn all those hours while in high school is an undertaking and they deserve recognition.”