(CEDAR HILL, TEXAS) Approximately 300 eighth grade scholars at Bessie Coleman and Permenter middle schools will have a first-hand look at Cedar Hill High School at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, February 13.
“This is an effort to get the rising ninth graders to see which pathway they’d like to select,” said Cedar Hill High School Career & Technical Education (CTE) Teacher Jacqueline Fields, who is coordinating the secondary Longhorn Level Up Program. “This is a community effort with everyone on the campus joining in.”
Last month, CHISD elementary scholars visited Permenter and Bessie Coleman as part of the Elementary Level.
The program, in its second year, is another part of the wonderful legacy created by the late, great TyShayla “Shay” Whittaker, the former CHHS Principal. Whittaker worked alongside Tyesha Smith Lowe, Executive Director of School Leadership, to make the program a reality.
“Longhorn Level up shows CHISD’s commitment to providing excellent academic and STEM programs,” Fields said. “The scholars will get a chance to see what a day in the life of a high school scholar is like.”
The event will begin with a pep rally – complete with the drumline, step team, cheerleaders and color guard. The CHHS Administration will introduce themselves, followed by a luncheon prepared by the Cedar Hill All Pro Dads.
The Longhorn Leaders, a group of scholar athletes who lead in the community, will also be involved in the event.
At one point in the event, the scholars will tour the campus in two different groups.
The eighth graders will hear from the various CTE Program leaders, and they’ll meet a chef and a real estate professional among other guest speakers.
CHISD Innovation Coordinator Tiara Brown said the Longhorn Level Up tours give scholars a better understanding of what they’ll expect approximately six months from now.
“The scholars visit the campus, engage with the staff and do hands on activities within the campus,” Brown said. “They’ll visit every single area of the campus and learn a lot of information.”
Brown, a longtime CHISD parent who joined the district as an employee last fall, said she remembers how confident her son – currently a sixth grader – was when he visited his current campus as a fifth grader.
“He was able to walk me around to his classes,” Brown said.
