The event included guest speakers and a high-energy start with some North Carolina pride as students were recognized for completing the yearlong course with guest speakers and student ambassadors. ABC11 Anchor Amber Rupinta served as a guest speaker.
Through the University Connections Program, freshmen work with counselors, educators, and guest speakers to explore their interests, future goals, and academic pathways. The course helps students learn more about options in arts, design, engineering, and humanities.
School leaders say the goal is to expose students to the opportunities, academic expectations, and career connections each pathway offers.
"This course allows for our students to explore all of our magnet pathways," said Lauren Johnson, Magnet/STEM Coordinator at Southeast Raleigh Magnet High School.
Johnson said the program also helps prepare students for life after high school, pointing to seniors who have gone on to schools including Duke University and Stanford.
"So whether they're at the top of the class or not at the top of the class, every student has the opportunity to go on and do some amazing things. For example, we really work hard to scaffold some of our marginalized students," Johnson added. "So, wherever they want to go and whatever they want to do, we prep them here because we have so many layers of resources, so many professionals to help scaffold their experiences."
After the ceremony, freshmen received completion certificates and selected the pathway they will follow for the next three years through graduation. Southeast Raleigh Magnet High School is the only Wake County Public School offering the University Connections Program.