Listening to Ja’Bor Brisco O’Brien, is like hearing a CEO lay out a master plan. He got high grades. He took on dual credit college level subjects and Career and Technical Education classes. The extracurriculars were there too. He played football where he went both ways and did shotput in track. This year he won defensive MVP for the district.
In June he’ll graduate with his high school diploma and CTE certifications. He also will be one of the three first-time-ever Worthing High School graduates with an associate’s degree at the same time. And he’ll be taking all that with him when he starts his fall 2026 classes at the prestigious Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
His fellow students were divided on whether the dual credit courses were a good idea or not. He hesitated but after he got involved with HISD’s Miles Ahead Scholars Program for Black and Latino male students he decided “If I want to stand out, why not get into a program that nobody is in?” His associates degree is in multidisciplinary studies — more than appropriate for the liberal arts college he’ll be going to.
Houston ISD like many school districts these days offers a way to help alleviate the high costs of college – costs that many education experts say have led to an overall decline in college and university enrollment. Why saddle yourself with years of student debt which affects not only the student but often the families as well? And where’s the guarantee that there will be a job for you afterward?
Also, like several other school districts, HISD has put increased focus on CTE certifications which also give students a head start if they want to go into a skilled trade immediately after high school. Trades that not infrequently pay more than what college graduates make when they enter the work force, degree in hand.
This June, HISD’s graduating seniors will have earned more than 500 associate degrees and more than 7,800 industry-based certifications, according to HISD.
Among them is Adrienna Perry who says she had to “chase” getting dual credit program at Worthing in the summer of her sophomore year. It was tough to get a program going after so many changes in the school’s administration, she says. In fact during her sophomore year she says there were no dual credit classes. “But my parents kept badgering me saying what’s up with this?” So she kept bringing it up at school and finally in the summer of her sophomore year she got back into dual credit classes.
Her favorite subjects involve science and thanks to the connection to HCC she was able to choose a more unusual course than is available in most high schools. “I chose anthropology and astronomy. They were very challenging. It’s physics and history and biology on steroids. And then the other classes like sociology and biology were nice.”
All but two of her Houston City College classes were online, but if she had questions “The HCC professors are pretty there for you.” And, “Even if you don’t finish your associates, it’s people investing in you.”
She’ll be graduating with an associate’s degree and the first-generation college student will be attending Texas A&M with an eye to going into biomedical sciences or veterinary science. “I want to get into vet school.” If that doesn’t work out, she’s looking at a career in biomedical engineering, she says.
Besides the 60 credits she already has, A&M awarded her a scholarship.
What may be the biggest surprise to those making assumptions about students in CTE classes is that just because you’re getting certifications doesn’t mean you’re not going to college.
Take, for instance Jordan La and Ezekiel Scott.
Jayden La moved to Houston from Oakland, California and says he was put into a computer networking pathways class his freshman year. “I didn’t choose it. I just stuck with it and I started to like it.”
He’ll leave Worthing with two certifications, CCNA Introduction to Networking (Level 1) and Certiport Networking Certification (IT specialist) (Level 2) .
He’s going to Texas State University to major in Computer Science and is receiving $18K in scholarship money.
When he took a class in web design, Ezekiel Scott thought it was “tricky at first.” His mother had pushed him to enroll in the CTE classes. But then he figured it out and found out “I love coding.”
In the fall he’ll be attending the University of Houston to study Computer Information Systems.
This year’s three Worthing graduates with associate degrees will grow to “30 to 40” by next year, Worthing Principal Alexandria Gregoire predicts.
“Probably 60-70 percent are going to college.” Gregoire says. “We’re really changing the narrative here.”
Daniel Gray is deputy chief of HISD’s College, Career and Military Readiness department. One big benefit to CTE and dual credit classes in high school, besides the money saved, is that students get to try out different pathways.
“If you think about what college offers you, there’s huge benefits to [dual credit and CTE courses. Our students get to save so much money. Oce they get their associate’s it’s $12,000 at a minimum that they are saving. When you think about how much it costs to go to college, our students have chopped that in half here at HISD.
“They not only save money and time but they also get to show that they can do the work. So there’s a level of confidence and belief that comes from knowing they can do college level course work.”
Taking a course in high school also removes the financial risk for students and their families if students find out while taking a certain course that it really isn’t for them, Gray says. “We take the risk,” Gray says. “We say we as a district will do this for you. We’ll help you get there. It provides a place for students to learn in a place that’s safer for them.”
Putting together a program that leads to an associate degree is not an easy task, Gray says. Besides the requirements from the Texas Education Association, HCC has their requirements as well as the Texas Education Higher Coordinating Board. Classes don’t always fit as seamlessly as we would want. So it takes us walking class by lass, reading syllabi on both sides,. There’s lots of back and forth conversation,” he says.
Ja’Bor Brisco O’Brien says he didn’t even know about Macallister until a football coach from there came and talked to him. He signed his intention to go there, but withdrew it. He wasn’t sure he wanted to go that far from home.
He thought about going to Texas A&M. The drawback there was location. He was afraid that College Station being that close would have him coming home every weekend. He visited Macallister and changed his mind again. “For me, the academic part is a big piece. I want to go out for my four years knowing I got something out of college.” He also wanted a smaller college where he could really know his professors. Finances were a factor too.
“It’s a full ride.”
