“Mr. Romano, did you hear everybody cheering for my brother Axel? I think he got the most cheers at Senior Signing Day! They loved him, didn’t they?” Ignacio asked me.
“Yes, they definitely did! Are you proud of him?” I asked him.
“Of course I’m proud of him!” Ignacio replied.
Axel is the first person in his family to get accepted to college and will be the first to attend. However, he certainly won’t be the only one in his family. Ignacio, a ninth grader, is the second oldest in the family followed by two other siblings in the same school. What’s powerful is that each one of them saw Axel get on stage at the Toyota Center and announce that he’d be attending University of Houston – Victoria in the fall. College will no longer be an unattainable goal for Axel’s siblings. I’m sure they’re thinking, “If my brother got into college, so can I!”
That’s the power of establishing a district-wide college culture. Axel was one of 93 YES Prep Brays Oaks seniors and one of 807 seniors across YES Prep who stood center stage in the Toyota Center to announce their college plans. Every year, YES Prep holds a Senior Signing Day, where every senior in the district gets in front of their families, friends, and every YES Prep student in the district to announce their college plan. Think about the message that sends to students and families alike for an organization to set aside an entire day and rent out a professional basketball arena to celebrate every senior in the district for their college aspirations!
It’s important to note that every student who graduates from YES Prep needs to have a four year college acceptance. There’s no mandate for them to attend, just to get in. I know there are some individuals who may say that college isn’t for everybody, and I agree.
What’s important is to realize that all students should know that college is a realistic option if they want to attend. For many students, especially low-income minority students, college can seem out of reach. Many of these students tell people they don’t want to go, when the reality is that they don’t think they can go. Every student deserves the opportunity to turn down or accept an offer to attend college. It should be up to each student to determine whether college is for them.
There’s a difference between saying, “I got into college, but I’m choosing not to go” vs. “I didn’t even apply to college, but I didn’t really want to go anyways.” The first statement demonstrates an actual decision somebody had to make, while the second statement portrays a decision that was made for them. You can’t choose not to go to college if you never applied. It’s our duty as educators to make sure all our students get the opportunity to make that decision.
All I know is that I’m going to work hard to get as many of my students as possible onto that stage to announce their college plans. Even if they aren’t the ones who end up going to college, they may inspire others to do so. I guarantee that Ignacio is one step closer to getting his own college acceptances simply because Axel paved the way and was celebrated on stage for doing so.
If you’re interested in checking out Senior Signing Day for yourself, you can watch a recording here (skip to hour 2).
