DCPS preparing students for college, careers early

Sep. 30—Audubon Elementary School fifth-graders are already learning about postsecondary education and high school programs that will be available to them in the future.

Amanda Jerome, Daviess County Public Schools' College & Career Readiness coordinator, spoke to the fifth-graders at AES on Thursday about the Empower U dual-credit programs the district offers to high school students.

The program allows students, starting as freshmen, to opt into a dual-credit course in agriculture, engineering, life sciences, early college, coding, advance placement or technical courses. Students can also mix and match the options available.

"We want the students to start making plans for the future and to show them that all things are possible," Jerome said. "We want them to feel that they can reach their goals."

Jerome said talking to fifth-graders about college and career options makes them aware early so they can begin thinking about the options they will have.

"The district is invested in students and believe they can achieve goals they set their mind to," she said.

Part of Jerome's discussion Thursday was about making decisions in middle school and how they will affect the students' future, like making good grades and attending class.

"It's not just something you can wake up and decide one day, so we want to start instilling it in them early," she said.

Jerome said there are approximately 1,200 students in the district that take advan

tage of the Empower U program.

"The more educated you are about opportunities early on, the more impactful it will be on the success rate and willingness to try," she said.

On Thursday, the students at Audubon also toured Kentucky Wesleyan College to learn more about the campus, college and what their future could look like if they choose that route.

Jaylee Butler, a fifth-grader at Audubon, said she thought the tour of KWC was fun, and her classmate, Addie Beth Duke, agreed.

"I learned they have a lot of sports teams here," Butler said.

Duke said she noticed the campus offered more than what elementary and middle schools do.

Both said they were excited to learn more about possibly going to college in the future after they toured the campus.