Crossroads High School graduates 41 students

By BRITTANY FHOLER
Cove Leader-Press

Crossroads High School held its May Commencement Ceremony for 41 students on Friday at Lea Ledger Auditorium.
Each student crossed the stage to receive their diploma holder from Copperas Cove Independent School District Board President Joan Manning and shake hands with CCISD Superintendent Joseph Burns and Crossroads High School Principal Patrick Crawley. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing requirements, students walked the stage one at a time, with their family members and friends waiting at the back of the auditorium. 
As they exited the stage, each student received a rose and a hug from Sharon Whitis, secretary at Crossroads High School. They were also presented with a gift bucket full of snacks and goodies before getting their picture taken in the lobby. 
Crawley said that it is a huge deal when Crossroads High School holds a graduation ceremony. 
“These kids are the ones that a lot people didn’t think could graduate or at least would graduate, and they are, many of them, graduating early,” Crawley said. “We have 41 graduates tonight, and I would say of those 41, 100 percent of them have worked their tails off these last six months, so it’s a big deal.”
As principal, Crawley has seen four graduations at Crossroads High School and each year, the number fluctuates. 
Crossroads will soon begin holding three graduations per year, with one in August, one in January and one in May, due to the growth at the school. 
Crawley said that around this time in 2019, Crossroads had 65 students, and now the school has 124 students, and they are expecting around 150 students this fall. 
The student population will probably triple in size in the next six months, Crawley added. 
“Kids are starting to see the opportunities that Crossroads has and allows. In the past, I’m not sure that it was really well-known,” Crawley said. “Crossroads was kind of thought of as where the ‘bad’ kids go, and they’re starting to realize that’s not what it is. It’s where kids go to graduate early or graduate a little bit late or just not with their cohort, but they’re seeing the other possibilities such as going to CTC for Career and Technology classes, taking Early College classes, doing Co-Op and job classes. There’s quite a bit of flexibility and the ability to work on a computer at the rate you want to work is huge.”
Israel Cervantes, 19, was one of those students who switched to Crossroads this semester. He said that he managed to finish his credits in time by spending a week focusing on all of his assignments. 
He was appreciative of the faculty and staff at Crossroads who helped encourage him. 
“All the teachers that I had, I just bonded with them,” Cervantes said. “To me, they were like family.”
Cervantes said he earns money by buying and reselling shoes online, and Crossroads helped him balance school and his job more easily than a traditional school setting. 
For William Ristine, 17, Crossroads helped him accomplish a goal in honor of his late father. 
“My dad took his own life a few years ago, and so his dream was for me to graduate, and I just wanted to keep pushing and pushing to make his dream a reality,” Ristine said. 
Ristine originally attended the Early College program on Fort Hood for two years before attending Copperas Cove High School and then went to Crossroads High School in order to graduate early. 
“For me, it was easy yet difficult at the same time, trying to get so many credits through at the same time, all at once but at the end of the day, it paid off,” Ristine said. 
He said he liked the self-pace aspect of Crossroads the most. 
“You can go at your own pace, so basically for me, I got through six classes in the matter of a month so it was at my own pace, considering I also worked too, so I could do it at home, at night, instead of having to worry about going through the day and worrying about balancing a job,” Ristine said. 
Ristine plans to attend the University of Texas in the fall and earn a degree in accounting. 
DeAmber Clarke, 18, was set to graduate in 2021 but wanted to earn her diploma even sooner. Clark said she would get into trouble at Copperas Cove High School and ended up at the district’s Disciplinary Alternative Education Program. She decided to switch to Crossroads High School, which is located next to the DAEP, and take her schooling seriously to earn her diploma. 
“I liked it so much,” Clark said about Crossroads High School. “Everyone was so friendly. They always helped me out, and I liked it because it was small, so everybody cared about everybody.”
Clark said she is also expecting a child and now can focus on the next step in her life. She said she plans to attend real estate school to earn her realtor license and become an entrepreneur. 
“I’m glad it’s over. I’m glad it’s done,” Clark said. “I’m glad I did it. Not a lot of people can say they graduated high school, but your girl did.”