BIG CYPRESS — Four Ahfachkee students will attend the Ahfachkee School and Florida SouthWestern State College in the fall. When they graduate from high school, they will have earned a high school diploma and an associate’s degree.

The students are juniors Aiyana Crespo, Curmya Smith and Shakur Williams and senior Curtis Smith. The requirements to qualify for the dual enrollment program are a 3.0 GPA or higher and to have five high school credits in core courses including English, math, science and social studies. Students also took the

Accuplacer state college test to assess their readiness for college level coursework.

“All four of them achieved the college level test score,” said guidance counselor Chip Osborn.

This is the first time Ahfachkee has participated in the dual enrollment program, which means the students will attend Ahfachkee in person and FSW remotely. On May 26, guidance counselors Osborn and Adriana Murgueytio made a presentation to students and parents interested in the program.

“There are still a few students waiting in the wings until they complete the core classes,” Murgueytio said. “They will get them in tenth grade.”

“Since the school year ended, the students have been coming in on their own time to work with us [to get enrolled],” said Osborn.

Crespo joined the program to give her more discipline.

“It will be nice to be more prepared for it,” said Crespo, 17. “It will give me more structure before I head off to college.”

She isn’t sure what she plans to study yet but is interested in film and political science.

Curmya Smith, 16, joined the program because she wants to get a head start on college, where she plans to study law to help people and speak up for them.

“I want to have an easier time in college and graduating high school with an AA will help,” she said. “I don’t think the workload will be too bad. I’m a good student and my GPA is usually higher than a 3.5.”

Curtis Smith, 16, wants to start working on college as soon as possible. He is good at science and math and may want to study finance or become a dietician. When he completes college, he plans to come back and work for the tribe.

“I want to either work in the health department or help people with their financial issues,” he said. “It’s a lot to set up, but it should be a smooth road. I like a challenge.”

Williams joined the program to make college a little easier for him. A generally self-motivated person, he is thinking of studying either technology or science when he graduates with his AA degree. With help from Osborn and Murgueytio, the students completed an online FSW orientation and registered for classes.

The only thing left for them is to enjoy the rest of the summer before tackling high school and college in the fall.