Saints go marching in

Catholic Central High School in Troy and Siena College launched their “Crusader to Saint” Academic Partnership, last week which will allow seniors to take college-level courses on Siena’s campus. The partnership will start in the fall of 2019 and students who attend Catho­lic Central will be able to apply to the program and meet with Siena College admissions counselors to identify areas of interest and associated coursework. 

Students will be able to enroll in up to three courses per semester in business, management, history, political science and the arts, giving them the ability to earn up to 24 college credits during their senior year of high school through the program.

Paul Barber, a junior at Catho­lic Central, knows this program will be beneficial not only to him but to all students. Barber, in his own words, talks about the potential impact the program will have on him: 

“The Crusader to Saint Program is a new initiative designed to help students from Catholic High get a head start on college. It was introduced to me a few weeks ago, and I have had a lot of time to ponder what it really means to me.

“As a junior in high school, when I learned of this program, it was a little scary. The idea of going to college for half of the school day seemed pretty daunting. As I thought more about it, however, I realized how advantageous it really could be. For one thing, Siena is my top choice for a college, so it would help get my foot in the door with the college itself.

“This program allows participants to take courses from a selection of about 100 classes according to their intended major, all on campus. Personally, I want to go for physics, so I would be interested in taking mathematics and physics courses. There are many courses available suiting anyone that wants to take advantage of this program. It is a great way to begin the transition from high school to college.

“As a student at Catholic High, I am aware of all that my parents have sacrificed for me and my two siblings to be able to attend private school and play sports there. With more than half of the price discounted for taking these courses, I feel that my participation in the program would be a great way to pay my parents back for all they have done, saving them money on my college education.

“I am also hoping to make the baseball team at Siena, and this program would lessen my course load in the future. If I am on the team, I would have many credits completed, making my schedule more manageable as a scholar-athlete. I cannot express enough gratitude to those responsible for making this happen, giving me a great chance to get ahead on my college education.”