Above: Two students in Arizona’s Early College Program work on a robotic car.
Careers in science and technology are lucrative, but a lack of solid mathematics preparation can prevent students from successfully obtaining STEM degrees. Twenty years ago, school counselor Homero Chavez was looking for a way to better prepare his students for STEM careers by strengthening their mathematics abilities. Using state tests and district assessment scores, he identified students with high proficiency in mathematics and convinced local middle school teachers to tutor them in math after school for free.
From this beginning, the Early College Program (ECP) in Arizona, created by Chavez at Gadsden Elementary School District #32, has evolved into a program that annually admits approximately 400 students from 4th to 8th grade, operating across six elementary schools and two middle schools. ECP students are given opportunities to take advanced math courses, ACT prep, and even community college courses up to pre-calculus and English 101.
ECP students grow up in San Luis, the poorest town in Arizona, located one mile from the Mexican border. Many residents are migrant farmers who travel seasonally, making it challenging for their children to successfully complete their schooling. ECP allows these students access to rigorous academic coursework, setting them up for success. Graduates of the ECP program have attended Alabama’s Space Camp and Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Talented Youth programs and have been admitted to Ivy League colleges. They have earned college degrees in mathematics, engineering, law, and more.
Credit: Photo Courtesy of Homero Chavez
Students in Arizona’s Early College Program take advanced mathematics courses to prepare them for STEM careers. Here, 7th and 8th grade students in the pre-calculus college class pose in their classroom.
One ECP student, José Mojardín, a son of migrant workers, was not initially identified as gifted. But after Chavez saw his potential, José joined ECP, eventually earning college credits and an honors associate degree in science before graduating high school. He recently graduated from Yale with a degree in biomedical engineering and has been accepted to medical school.
Reflecting on the students’ success, Chavez says it’s important to find student talent at an early age and develop services to address the needs of advanced learners. “We do not want students to be left in limbo,” he says. “There is no point in identifying talent if you are not going to take advantage of it.”
The ECP program shows what happens when students are given the chance to challenge themselves—and when educators are willing to take a chance on them.
