Warner Robins, Ga. – High school sweethearts are nothing new, but when it happens in a non-traditional high school run by a technical college, the wedding bells ring a little louder.
Earlier this summer, Mckenzie Martinez married Aden Buenrostro-Valle as they completed high school and Cosmetology and Automotive programs, respectively, in what is known as the Dual Achievement Program (DAP) at Central Georgia Technical College (CGTC).
DAP is a part of the CGTC Academy, a COGNIA-accredited high school. This burgeoning high school option was piloted in 2021 by five of colleges within the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG), including CGTC. The State of Georgia initiative gives students ages 16-21 an option to earn an accredited Georgia high school diploma through dual credit programming while also completing a technical college credential.
Students can transfer into the program after completing at least 6 core units of credit out of the 9 required units needed in 9th and 10th grade at a traditional high school. To complete and earn the high school diploma, students must finish either two technical certificates of credit, a college program diploma, or an associate degree, and finalize any remaining high school credits needed to complete the total of nine units.
There are many reasons to enter DAP, love notwithstanding. However, this move to a nontraditional high school format was presented to Martinez as she found herself in a position where she didn’t like the alternative option that was presented to her.
“DAP gave me freedom,” she said. “It gave me something beyond what traditional high school was doing for me. I always wanted to finish high school early, and DAP came along at the right moment.”
“I convinced my then boyfriend that he should come to the program, too,” she said, exuberantly.
Martinez stands out among the 114 DAP graduates since the program’s inception. She is the first CGTC Academy graduate to complete a technical college diploma program to satisfy her high school diploma requirements.
Until now, DAP graduates have chosen to complete two technical certificates to complete requirements. While technical certificates are the faster path to completion and are stackable workforce credentials that lead to employment, they also allow students to build toward the technical college diploma or degree. Many DAP graduates have re-enrolled at CGTC following high school completion to earn the technical college diploma or associate degree. However, Martinez chose to complete her Cosmetology diploma as part of her high school requirements and is now eligible to test for state licensure.
DAP has been motivational for both newlyweds as it allowed them to prepare for adulthood, define interests, and gain skills for a global workforce; skills they are ready to employ as Buenrostro-Valle, now a U.S. Marine, awaits orders for their family later this fall.
“The DAP program gave me the opportunity to learn something that I actually wanted to pursue,” Buenrostro-Valle said. “It allowed me to get a head start in my adult life and I am very grateful for the opportunities that came from completing the program.”
In May 2024, close to 100 students walked and received a Dual Achievement Pathway high school diploma as a part of the College’s commencement ceremony at the Atrium Health Amphitheater in Macon. In a graduation ceremony down the road, McKenzie’s brother will keep DAP all in the family.
More than a couple of students who graduate through DAP surely have an interesting story to tell, but as LaKeitha Gordon, principal and executive director for the Dual Achievement Pathway, believes, consistency and reliability of the program are themes in each of their happy endings.
“Their love story probably happens, with or without DAP,” Gordon said. “But DAP being available as a reliable option for high school provided Aden and McKenzie purpose, direction, and marketable skills. It’s icing on the cake for their young family.”
The DAP program is enrolling now. To find out more about the CGTC Academy and DAP, visit, https://www.centralgatech.edu/academics/cgtc-academy/dual-achievement-program.
About Central Georgia Technical College
As one of the largest two-year colleges in the state, CGTC operates three campuses and five centers
throughout central Georgia, serving more than 30,000 individuals annually. CGTC is focused on connecting graduates to careers by offering quality education services, assuring a well -qualified workforce to support a healthy local economy. CGTC is a unit of the Technical College System of Georgia and is regionally accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges. For more information about CGTC, visit www.centralgatech.edu. Like us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/centralgatech), Twitter (@CGTC), and Instagram (@centralgatech).