Bridgeton kids prep for life as college students

VINELAND - Jonathan Velasquez was one of the lucky 50. 

The 14-year-old Bridgeton Public Schools student joined a group of his peers Monday for the Carver Early College High School Program inauguration at Cumberland County College.

The program will afford 50 Bridgeton students set to enter high school the opportunity to earn their diploma and a liberal arts associate degree simultaneously while studying for four years on the college campus.

"A friend told me about the program and I was interested, I was excited," said Velasquez, a recent West Avenue School graduate. "This will give me a head start in my learning." 

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Officials said Bridgeton is the first school district in South Jersey to implement the program. 

Superintendent Thomasina Jones immediately was interested in bringing the Carver Early College High School initiative to Bridgeton when she learned of it earlier this year. 

"I'm indebted to the members of the Bridgeton Board of Education who really embraced the concept and gave me the approval to institute the program," Jones said. "I vividly remember that night, I walked in and I basically said I need $120,000. They listened to what I had to say and they immediately supported the idea." 

Carver Program Manager Jerome Taylor said about 100 students applied for the opportunity. Applicants were considered based on attendance records, reading level and overall grades. 

A lottery system was needed to choose the participants. The lottery was held May 1, Taylor said, with students assigned a random number. 

"It was an intense night," Taylor said of the lottery. "I'm a passionate educator, just like Dr. Jones, and I want all of them. When things are based on funding, it's a little hard." 

Taylor said the trend across the country is for high school buildings within school districts to become early college ready so that all students once they reach that level can take advantage of the Carver program. 

Taylor said that type of evolution doesn't happen overnight. 

"You have to build an infrastructure, and Bridgeton started that," Taylor said. "They didn't depend on grants and funding; they said let us shift monies, let us figure it out. The board said, OK, you need $120,000 to kick it off? Let's kick it off, let's get it started, and as we go on we'll keep building the infrastructure. Because that's how they are going to be able to scale (the program) back to the high school in Bridgeton." 

Taylor said students will complete a traditional 60-credit program en route to the associate's degree with career pathways offered in health science, computer science and business studies.

Both Bridgeton High School teachers and Cumberland County College professors will instruct the students, according to Taylor. 

The Carver Early College High School program is catered to work with school districts like those in Cumberland County, where challenges in education and the job market exist. 

Taylor said he was impressed with Bridgeton's leaders — notably Jones and Mayor Albert Kelly — for their dedication in making the program a reality.

“I think when you are in an area that can be sort of discouraging at times, just from all the reports and all the different things going on, to be around people who can still every day come to work and be positive and say, ‘You know what guys, we can do this,’ that is extremely encouraging,” Taylor said. 

Kelly, who attended Monday's ceremony and addressed the crowd on hand, distributed bracelets that read "Bridgeton Early College First Class of 2021" to the students and their family and friends. 

Kelly lauded the students for taking on a "new" and "exciting" challenge. 

“I always say I’m the mayor of the great city of Bridgeton,” Kelly told the audience. “I’m not saying that just to say it, I’m saying that because I mean it. And we’re becoming great, and greater, because of students and parents like yourselves who are taking this first step to do something different to improve our community and I thank you very much for it.”

Anthony Coppola; (856) 563-5258; acoppola@gannettnj.com