This week, the Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program is celebrating the Acceleration Academy Class of 2020! Full-time Acceleration Academy students from Anchorage and Mat-Su begin earning college credits the moment they start high school. This year’s graduates have collectively completed nearly 600 college credits equal to an average of 1.8 years of college at University of Alaska campuses.
To celebrate their accomplishments, we’re hosting a virtual graduation ceremony for students from both the Mat-Su and Anchorage campuses on Saturday, May 9, at 2 p.m. The virtual graduation will include highlights of each of the 11 graduates, a keynote speech by ANSEP Vice Provost and Founder Herb Ilisaurri Schroeder, Acceleration Regional Directors, ASD and MSBSD Superintendents, and Acceleration staff.
Learn more about these high-achieving graduates and what’s next in their STEM education journey and tune in on Facebook Live to show your support for these hardworking high school graduates!
Kasen Callison, Acceleration Academy Mat-Su
Kasen attended Acceleration Academy all four years and will graduate high school with nearly two years of college completed. This fall, he is attending the University of Alaska Anchorage where he will study natural science.
Haley Soares, Acceleration Academy Mat-Su
Haley attended Acceleration Academy for three years and will graduate high school with two years of college completed. This fall, she is attending UAA where she will pursue a health science degree.
Isaiah Wolcoff, Acceleration Academy Mat-Su
Isaiah attended Acceleration Academy all four years and will graduate high school with two years of college completed. This fall, he is attending University of Alaska Fairbanks where he will study for a degree in chemistry.
Paul Cosby, Acceleration Academy Anchorage
Paul attended Acceleration Academy for two years and will graduate high school with 1.5 years of college completed. This fall, he is attending UAA where he will study electrical engineering.
Noah Faso-Formoso, Acceleration Academy Anchorage
Noah attended Acceleration Academy for two years and will graduate high school with over two years of college completed. This fall, he is attending UAA where he plans to earn a bachelor’s degree in engineering.
Kaitlyn Knox, Acceleration Academy Anchorage
Kaitlyn attended Acceleration Academy for two years and will graduate high school with over one year of college completed. This fall, she is continuing her studies at UAA.
Patrick Noble, Acceleration Academy Anchorage
Patrick attended Acceleration Academy for three years and will graduate high school with more than a year of college completed. This fall, he will begin studying biological sciences at UAA.
Chloe Phillips, Acceleration Academy Anchorage
Chloe attended Acceleration Academy for two years and will graduate high school with nearly two years of college completed. This fall, she will attend UAA or UAF where she will major in engineering.
Bre’Anna Sherman, Acceleration Academy Anchorage
Bre’Anna attended Acceleration Academy for two years and will graduate high school with over two years of college completed. This fall, she is pursuing a chemistry degree from UAA.
Dastzeni Tibbits, Acceleration Academy Anchorage
Dastzeni attended Acceleration Academy for one year and will graduate high school with one-and-a-half years of college completed. This fall, he is attending UAA and working towards a degree in mathematics.
Debra Lane-Hayes, Acceleration Academy Anchorage
Debra attended Acceleration Academy for two years and will graduate high school with two years of college completed. This fall, she is attending UAA where she will major in biological sciences.
ANSEP launched its full-time Acceleration Academy component in 2016, making this year’s graduates the first to have the opportunity to attend all four years. Now ANSEP students are going from eighth grade to a bachelor’s degree in six years or less. This saves the state $25,000 for each student. At scale, 100 students saves the state $2.5 million and 1,000 saves the state $25 million.
Families save at least $50,000 for each student in college costs. Also, the state’s chronic remediation problem is eliminated, and the social cost of failure is reduced. ANSEP is working to make its transformative education model available for every student in Alaska.
