ANDERSON COUNTY, Tenn. (WVLT) - Within the Anderson County school district, there is one job that is only focused on the future. Thanks to that job, 90% of seniors in the school district are seeing offers for college or trade school education.
Angela “Hoppy” Merriman has worked in the school for years and has seen many students come and go. Many of them, still call her.
“He had me on speaker and the college football coach said, ‘I don’t know who you are, but I have never had a kid do this.’ I said ‘Oh! We do this all the time,’” Merriman said.
The student called to ask questions about what his scholarships would cover, even as a college freshman.
This is because of the effort she and the staff put into their future. Allowing these students not only to be aware of the possibilities but also show them how to achieve them.
“To watch them, just tears pouring down their face, saying ‘Mrs. Merriman I never thought I could do this. My mom is a single mom; I never thought I could have this opportunity!’” Merriman said. “These are things that would be missed if our director of schools didn’t feel like it was really important that we have enough staff to serve all of our students.”
Merriman serves as the post-secondary services coordinator for Anderson County Schools. Her job ranges from helping fill out FAFSAs to taking students on college tours.
Because of her role and community involvement, Anderson County has reported that 90% of their graduates have received offers from colleges, universities or trade schools. Ninety-five percent have qualified for Tennessee Promise.
Merriman, school staff and volunteers come together to help student apply for scholarships, FAFSA and the schools themselves.
She said the program is only in place because of how much she, the community and the school board care.
“Any school system can do this. You just have to come up with enough people who care about it and enough funding to do wrap around services,” Merriman said.
Because of that care, between the four high schools, graduates this year have received over $15 million in scholarships.
Students have also clocked over 500 hours of dual enrollment classes at local colleges.
“They’re going to school all day at Roane State, they’re coming back to their high school to play in the band, do a sport, to take an additional class,” Merriman said. With those hours, nine graduating seniors already have their associates degree. “They’ll get a Middle College diploma one week, a high school diploma the next week.”
She said that in the end, it is the support and the village that help bring so much success.
“We always like to say that love changes people. Whether that’s loving your students, loving your community, showing people what is possible, it will change the way your students act, daily,” she said.
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