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TAHLEQUAH, OKLAHOMA - While most high school seniors are worried about pep rallies, ACT scores, and the prom, 21 Sequoyah High School (SHS) seniors have chosen to add college classes to their workload.

"It (attending college) is an option that they have here," said Kim Livingston, SHS teacher who organizes the concurrent enrollment program. "They can start as early as their junior year."

27% of this year’s senior class has elected to participate in the program with 18 of them attending classes at Northeastern State University (NSU) and 3 taking classes by interactive television from Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute (SIPI).

Students must meet the guidelines for concurrent enrollment set by the college and have satisfactorily completed enough high school credit hours to still graduate from high school with their classmates.

"Some students will have as many as nine college credit hours when they graduate this year," said Gina Stanley, SHS principal.

Students have the potential to earn 18 total college credit hours if they begin college classes their junior year. SHS even pays for the college tuition and books and provides transportation to and from NSU. SIPI classes are broadcast into a special classroom at SHS. Counselors and teachers at SHS work with their students to make sure that their college classes fit into their school schedule and are available to help them with their school work if they need it.

"I like it because you get some credits out of the way," said Jayme Steeley, SHS senior. "You get the college experience early. I am more comfortable in those types of classes now. It’s more challenging."

"We try to give them a support system by grouping students together in classes that we know will transfer to any school," Stanley said. "Our goal is to take away the fear and intimidation of college. We encourage them and we let them experience success."

Sequoyah High School "Home of the Indians!" P.O. Box 520, Tahlequah, OK 74465             Sequoyah High School Alumni P.O. Box 187, Park Hill, OK 74451-0187 Sequoyah High School, an Indian boarding school, originated in 1871, when the Cherokee National Council passed an act setting up an orphan asylum to take care of many orphans that came out of the Civil War. Sequoyah High School's approximate 300 enrollment represents 42 tribes and 14 different states. Students are eligible to attend if they are members of federally recognized Indian tribes or one-fourth blood descendants of such members.