Crossroads High School Holds third graduation ceremony of 2021

By BRITTANY FHOLER

Cove Leader-Press

Copperas Cove’s Crossroads High School held a commencement ceremony for 30 students on Friday evening at Lea Ledger Auditorium. 

This marks the third commencement ceremony of 2021 for Crossroads High School, which traditionally has a ceremony in January and in May. 

Due to the student growth at the school, which is described as Copperas Cove Independent School District’s “Alternative School of Choice”, school officials decided to expand the commencement ceremonies and add an additional event. 

Currently, Crossroads has a capacity for approximately 200 students, but as the school undergoes some renovations, the capacity is expected to increase to between 300 and 350 students. 

Principal Patrick Crawley said that Crossroads High School has dedicated students who have been putting in the work to get their diplomas early, on time or even just catching up on credits. “A lot of these kids took advantage of the fact that we were at home with COVID over the last year, for the most part,” Crawley said. “They worked at home. They worked at night, over holidays, weekends and everything else. We had several that graduated a year and even two years early. We’ve had several that have been at Crossroads for quite a long time, more than two years, and for whatever reason decided that that was enough, and they got finished.”

“That’s what Crossroads is all about,” Crawley added. “I mean, that’s really the reason we’re doing this is for those kids that don’t want to go to high school and be in a cheer squad and be in the band and play on the football team. They want to go to high school, get a [diploma], get out and get a job or go do whatever they’re going to go do, and that’s what a lot of these kids do.”

Crossroads offers the ability for students to get college credit at CTC and even get credit with  the reintroduced Co-Op program, where students go work in local businesses in town and earn three credits at CTC. 

“Most of our graduates are extremely self-motivated,” Crawley said. “They almost have to be because of the nature of the program. It’s a self-paced program, and if they’re not doing the work they don’t move along.”

The staff at Crossroads join Crawley in pushing the students to complete their assignments, come to school and accomplish their goals. 

For Jasmine Malik, 17, Crossroads High School helped her get her diploma after she had her son. 

“I went to Crossroads because I got pregnant at 16,” Malik said. “I was tempted to drop out, but I kept pushing myself for my child. I was like, ‘I got to do it because I want him to graduate as well,’ and I don’t want him to slack, you know.”

Malik credited her son and her mother as big motivators. She also credited her teachers and friends for pushing her. 

“It was tough at first because I’m a procrastinator,” Malik said. She explained that she realized she wouldn’t be able to focus on her schoolwork if her phone was nearby, but she made the effort to push through and ignore distractions. 

“I’m so relieved, stress free,” Malik said about finally graduating. “I can go about my day without stressing about COVID and stuff like that and not making my son sick.”

Malik plans on working for a few months and then enrolling at Central Texas College for the spring semester to pursue a degree that will help her go into the field of marine biology. 

 Alicia Rodriguez, 20, has balanced working in her family’s restaurant with her schoolwork. She chose to transfer to Crossroads to finish high school after talking with her school counselor. 

“It took me a minute, but I finally did it,” Rodriguez said. “I feel so happy. I’m happy because my parents are proud of me and everything that I worked so hard to get here.”

Rodriguez plans to attend Central Texas College to study for a degree in Criminal Justice and Law Enforcement. 

Crossroads will be holding commencement ceremonies every four months, on the third Friday of the month.