Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/14049
AUGUST 2010 SPORTS & EDUCATION 46 WRIT TEN BY EDGARD ZUNIGA High Achievers D eep in the heart of this city you'll find one of the best-kept educational secrets of the Southland. A secret that up until just recently was mostly confined to the hallways of St. Anthony College Preparatory High School. For St. Anthony President Gina Maguire, Principal Mike Schabert and the faculty, it simply isn't enough to just bring students through the system and make sure they graduate— the benchmark at most schools. For the goals are different for students at St. Anthony High. And, if having a high school's entire senior class graduate isn't an achievement in itself, how about ensuring that 100 percent of the students in the graduating class are headed to college? That is exactly what St. Anthony has done with its 2010 graduating class. On June 5th, 66 graduating seniors bid farewell to the school, equipped with all the tools they need to succeed. "I think the approach we take is that we are here to prepare children to become young men and women and we want to give them every opportunity to be responsible," Schabert said. Rather than wait for the students to decide sooner or later upon their future, the faculty at St. Anthony High takes a proactive approach with their "Road to College" program. The Road to College is a four-year, comprehensive college preparation program that aims at giving graduating seniors at St. Anthony High an advantage over other college applicants by going beyond just offering the right classes or academic support. "Going to college nowadays has become mandatory instead of optional, and the challenge that we face is that every kid wants to go to college and many of the colleges cannot keep up with the demand like they were able to 25 years ago," Schabert admitted. "Kids nowadays need more than just GPA and SAT scores to rise to the top; they need extra-curricular activities and community service. When you have 25 kids with the same GPA and SATs, you need to break the tie somehow." Whether it is in athletics or clubs, students at St. Anthony High are encouraged to participate and get involved, not just with the school, but their community. Academically, they are prompted to take additional years of advanced math, science and foreign languages so that when they apply to college, they have one more year in these subjects than everyone else. "A lot of students that are average could be excellent if they had support. Our students are supported in their desire," Maguire said. "Any student can go to college with the right support. We work hard to find the strengths of every student and bring out the best in all of them." The fact that St. Anthony High isn't particularly crowded helps a great deal. Due to small class sizes, Maguire admits that students benefit from a more personal education than that found at most public high schools. Then, the unique Road to College program SENIOR BREANA PANAGUITON