It is the policy of the Oxford School District that a student earn 24 Carnegie units prior to graduation. Of those Carnegie unit credits a maximum of four Carnegie units may be earned during summer school programs. Enrollment in online courses must have prior approval granted by the principal.
Crawford Shows is a current junior at Oxford High School. She decided unexpectedly that she was going to graduate early in Dec. 2023. Shows decided she will attend Ole Miss in the fall of 2024 and get her major in civil engineering.
“Kelsey Dodson has had such a huge impact on me throughout high school,” said Shows. “She walked me through everything I needed to get done at any certain time and has shown me so much support going through this stressful time.”
Shows started taking highschool courses in 7th grade. When rearranging her spring semester schedule she realized that all she needed to take was a science, government, economics, and 2 english classes, which she is taking online at Northwest Community College.
“The scholarship deadlines have been one of the main obstacles I have faced,” Shows said. “It has been very stressful to cram in things like this when people have had a year and half to do it while I am only given 5 months.”
Shows first semester as a junior decided to take dual credit college algebra with Mr. Guest. Shows made a perfect score on all of his test, including the final exam. He told her that her math brain needs to put on a college campus and fast, which made an impact on Shows future career choice.
“My goals are to maintain a 3.9+ GPA and just get into the groove of college,” Shows said. “Living alone a year early is going to be very challenging, but I can’t wait to see what the future holds for me.”
Shows will graduate OHS with a distinguished diploma, which means you have to take a few extra classes compared to having a traditional diploma.
“Looking back I am definitely most proud of my time with OHS tennis,” said Shows. “Coach Nash has taught me so much in the 5 years I’ve been apart of this team not only how to improve my tennis game, but also how to be a good person. That team from 7th grade until now has been my heart and soul and I am proud to say I was coached by Louis Nash.”
Shows having to take many of these responsibilities with deadlines and resumes earlier than expected has made her feel prepared for the responsibilities of gradually growing up.
“From an academic standpoint there was a clear path to graduate in May 2024,” Shows said. “Mrs. Dodson fully supported this decision and we were both excited about my future at Ole Miss.”
Georgia Mercier graduated in Dec. of 2023, but will walk with the class of 2024 in May. She plans to get her degree and attending the University of Mississippi in the fall of 2024.
“My sister was a December graduate last year and it gave her the opportunity to have more time to work and focus on a job which I really wanted to do as well,” Mercier said. “The school district gave me the opportunity to finish all of my classes early and this opened up other possibilities to have a job and make money before college.”
Mercier was afraid of missing out on all the spring activities with her friends, but still continues to hangout with them and to make memories with them.
“I am most proud of my relationships with my teachers who always supported me and helped me,” Mercier said. “I am also proud of all the things my dance team and I accomplished when I was a part of it.”
