Freshmen and sophomores at First Odessa Christian Academy can now take dual credit courses through Odessa College and they are loving it.
Colten Newton, a 15-year-old sophomore, and Austin Ramsey, a 14-year-old freshman, are two of the eight students in dual credit. The online course teaches students the basics of college, Head of Schools Lindsey Lumpkin said.
“I wanted to try to get a little bit of a head start and figure out my way a little bit early,” Newton said.
Ramsey said he wanted to get ahead and figure out what he wanted to do before “it’s too late.”
Interviewed 13 weeks into a 16-week course, Ramsey said this was his first college course, so he didn’t know what to expect, but he likes it.
“It’s a little bit more like realistic. It benefits me more in the real world,” he added.
Newton said it’s been pretty mind opening.
“It can change your worldview on certain things,” he said.
Ramsey said he wanted to have a “better education” before he hits his college years.
He said he is leaning toward going into medicine or being an attorney.
Newton said he is trending toward engineering or being a financial advisor.
Both said Odessa College has good communication with them and they make it easy to understand things.
They also said it would be worth it in the long run.
Newton said it takes him an hour and a half to two hours a week to work on assignments.
Lumpkin noted that it’s important for students to check in their courses and prioritize their time.
She added that Newton and Ramsey are very motivated.
“I just asked them have you checked in? What are your grades. They show me their grades on Blackboard,” Lumpkin said.
She added that both students are pulling high A’s right now.
“It’s definitely benefited them. I don’t have to light a fire under them. They already do that themselves. That motivation comes from home and these kid just wanting to do better and get further in their education. They know as it progresses that it will get harder and some courses that they’ll have to spend more time … But for now, that’s why it’s a fundamental course to teach them how to do college,” Lumpkin said.
Lumpkin said freshmen and sophomores can take dual credit.
The professor gives them a week or a week and a half to complete an assignment or the course module. In the module, there are several things to do. Some students finish that module or assignment and move on to the next.
“So they just keep moving through it and they’re pulling the A’s right now. It’s an introductory fundamental course and that’s what I told them. I said, it’s foundational. This is the easiest course in college you’ll ever take so use it. It’s a fundamentals to college course, showing them how to do some research; showing them some introductory pieces in writing, research, arguments; how they can approach a paper. They even had to do an introductory piece on themselves. They had to introduce themselves, but then they have to go in — it’s also interactive with other people in the course — so once you introduce yourself and upload a photo, you had to go in and reply with three sentences at least to the next person saying hey, it’s nice to meet you. I read your profile. I like dogs, too; that kind of thing so that they can have that camaraderie amongst college students. When it’s an online course, it’s a little more difficult, but they’re doing relatively very well,” Lumpkin said.
Odessa College built the course specifically for FOCA students. Lumpkin gathered the students one at a time, called their parents to get permission to sign them up for the course and walked the parents through how to pay for it.
“Odessa College and their team there for dual credit working with high schools, they’ve been nothing but wonderful to work with and the ease that the instructor has built the course, it’s very user friendly. It’s not intimidating. It’s got challenging pieces built embedded in it. But it’s nothing that’s overly challenging that they cannot figure out because they’re very tech savvy, these kids,” Lumpkin said.
She added that they already know how to download, upload, insert, crop and all those things.
“ What the kids have a hard time understanding is you’ve got to do it every day. You’ve got to check on it,” Lumpkin said.
She has to remind students not to forget about their dual credit course and make sure the professor doesn’t have anything they need to redo or check to see if the professor needs to meet with them over Zoom, for example.
“The professor that they have is amazing (Constance Conner). She contacts me. She contacts students. She’s super helpful; very positive,” Lumpkin said.
She added that they are pushing for speech next semester and they may also add Spanish. FOCA hopes to add more courses as they grow.
Anytime you can give a student a chance to do something outside of the norm, it’s great.
“We have kids that are here because they want to have the smaller classroom environment, but it’s still rigorous. It’s still challenging and the fact that we can give them a college professor in the palm of their hands, per se, with an online device. That’s incredible,” Lumpkin said.
Classes at FOCA are an hour long, so when there is a lull in the action, the students can work on their dual credit course.
“Some students have a more difficult time managing their time and their resources, so we work on that. But the opportunity to get ahead, I have some very, very, very, very driven students. I feel that we can’t be a hindrance to the drive. Sometimes I have to tell them, hold on. I realize that you’re super driven, but I don’t want you to be so driven, that you miss the forest for the trees. I want you to step back, breathe just a minute and say I’m not going to conquer the world all in one year,” Lumpkin said.
There is a course sequence with Odessa College so students take courses in order. But that doesn’t stop some students from asking about the next course and the next course.
The foundational course lasts 16 weeks.
“They’re already trying to move puzzle pieces around and … bargaining chips at this point, like, how many can I fit into next semester? I said, again, don’t get so driven that you also don’t have a life, too, because you are 15. I want you to still function as a as a full 15-year-old. I want you to go see a hockey game or go to a football game or go to the movies on the weekend. I don’t want you to be completely tied down to a dual credit course. But again, the opportunity is there and available,” Lumpkin said.
