Andrews – Everett Tatham has always been a scholastic overachiever, according to both himself and his mother, Sarah.
“While I always disliked school, I made good grades from an early age. So, I thought I’m good at it,” he said of his academic career.
That career culminated briefly in May, when he graduated with an associate of arts degree from Tri-County Community College while still only being at the end of his junior year of high school.
With three generations of educators in his family – including his grandparents and mother – Everett is ready to challenge himself and dominate the rest of his educational pursuits. Tatham’s father, Jeff, serves on the Cherokee County Board of Education and works at Western Carolina University.
“I got an associate degree in arts through the dual enrollment program, so I figured the arts track would serve me better for pursuing a law degree, so I took every English and history course through the program,” he said. “I’ve always done well in English, and I love studying history, so it was a perfect combination.”
TCCC’s Career & College Promise Dual Enrollment Program, or CCP, is free to eligible freshmen through senior students in Cherokee, Clay and Graham counties to allow students to earn a two-year degree either to pursue further education at a four-year institution or to develop along a Technical Career Path.
Those two avenues have allowed this graduate the ability to enjoy his senior year of high school with veritably fewer classes than the average senior.
Tatham said he “started taking classes as soon as I was able to, as a freshman, so that’s ninth grade, so I knew about the program because my older brother had gone through. Then this year I realized I was able to get to graduate with the degree from TCCC. That was pretty cool.
“So, my senior year of high school will consist mostly of electives, which is going to be nice since I can continue to play sports and focus on also taking non-degree seeking courses through the program at WCU.”
His mother added, “He said, ‘Hey, by the way, I’ll be able to graduate, so we were a little surprised and also proud of him, but we had to scramble a bit to get everything together for him.”
Sarah, who also works at Western, said while Everett is enrolled in the non-degree seeking courses, she’s already “made that call to find that when he does graduate high school next year he can switch to degree-seeking status. We’re all so proud of his dedication and accomplishments and ready to help see him through.”
This getting together will also coincide next year with Everett’s graduation from high school with his older brother Andy’s graduation from Western Carolina University.
“I was pretty happy to learn I would graduate from high school also as a junior in college with my brother who’s been at WCU,” Everett said.
He is also utilizing his summer this year working as an intern at a local law firm to help him better categorize which facet of law he’ll study while attending university.
Tatham also emphasizes the importance for all eligible students to take advantage of this program, saying, “I’d encourage everyone to try to get into the program to take these classes that are offered for free. You can save money, gain experience and all at no cost to you or your parents. It’s a wonderful program, and they have a ton of options.”
Details: Visit tricountycc.edu/academics/high-school-partnerships/career-college-promise.