Delgado Community College Graduates Twenty High School Students in Dual Enrollment

May 15, 2018

On May 15, 20 seniors from Warren Easton Charter High School in New Orleans received the Residential Electrician Certificate of Technical Studies (CTS) from Delgado Community College.

This is the third cohort of Warren Easton students to complete the program at Delgado. Several graduates from two prior cohorts, The "Super Seven" (2016) and "The W-E 23" (2017) have continued to earn higher levels of training in the field or to pursue other career options. As with the prior two cohorts, The "DB ’18 (Delgado Boyz)" have taken classes at the college since their junior year of high school in Delgado’s Dual Enrollment program, which allows high school students to take college classes for credit.

In recognition of their outstanding academic achievement, 11 of the 20 young men were recently inducted into Phi Theta Kappa, the national academic honor society for two-year institutions. In a recent visit to their class, students credited their instructor, Leslie Falkins, as an integral component of their success. Falkins highlighted the students’ achievements and encouraged them to continue to pursue excellence.

Dr. Arnel Cosey, vice chancellor of student affairs at Delgado, says that the solid partnership between Warren Easton and Delgado has played a major role in the completion of the more than 50 graduates from Warren Easton over the past four years. According to Cosey, Falkins, along with Patrice Strickland, the Warren Easton college and career readiness counselor, and Everett Jones, the dual enrollment coordinator for Delgado, are a winning team. "They are the epitome of dedicated and committed professionals with a proven strategy for student success," Cosey said. "Each of them lends their talent to the team with the single focus of meeting every student’s individual needs. The outcomes of their joint efforts are realized each year at graduation or by some other measure as determined between Ms. Strickland and her students. I’m looking forward to the next phase of this winning collaboration.”

In addition to the electrical program, Strickland and Jones have also enrolled students in a criminal justice pathway and in the Certificate of General Studies (CGS), among other Delgado programs. Jones says the CGS is an ideal option for students planning to attend a four-year institution after high school, as all 30 credit hours are transferable to the state’s public colleges and to many private institutions.

In addition to the 20 graduates, another 39 students from three local high schools received state industry-based credentials (IBCs) in three recognized areas of the Logistics programs. Dan Summitt, logistics instructor at Delgado, is hopeful that other schools will become interested in this opportunity for their students. According to Summitt, logistics is a viable occupation in this region with a starting salary ranging $20,000-$45,000, depending on the employer and the location of the business. It is also an attainable option for high school students, as the entire program consists of six courses that are all offered online.

For more information about dual enrollment at Delgado Community College, high school counselors/administrators, parents, and high school students are encouraged to contact the Dual Enrollment Office at 504-671-5035 or 504-671-5037, or visit the dual enrollment webpage.