Maldonado Learns About Legacy
Administrators explain needs, future of early college program

District 52 representative-elect Diana Maldonado paid a visit to Legacy Early College High School Wednesday morning to pick the brains of both the school’s administrators and a few students.

The 81st Texas Legislature will convene later this month, and Legacy administrators are hoping school reform will be on the agenda. The program has survived the first few years of installation with the help of a grant from the Texas Education Agency, but the funding will expire later this year, leaving Legacy to stand on its own feet in this turbulent era of minimalist funding for public schools.

Legacy, a free accelerated high school program that gives students the opportunity to earn up to two years of college credit, is still growing in population as new classes enroll, according to Principal Richard Kolek. Many of the students themselves see the school as an opportunity to escape a life struggling to get ahead, Kolek said.

“We’re looking for kids who don’t have a good chance of going to college,” Kolek said, addressing Maldonado, whom Legacy administrators invited to observe English, world history and chemistry classes during her visit.

After the tour, Maldonado met with Kolek, Chuck McCarter, president of the East Williamson County Higher Education Center, and two Legacy students to discuss the progress of the program and the plan for the future.

“We’re in dire straits as far as space is concerned,” McCarter told Maldonado. “We started with 200 students, and now we’re well over 800.”

Melissa Secor and Karina Velasquez, both 15 years old, explained their experiences enrolling in the program and how it has changed their aspirations.

“When the opportunity presented itself, I was so excited,” Secor said. “I get to graduate with an associate’s degree, I mean, who wouldn’t want to do that? Normal high school’s not this advanced, and I think a lot of students passed up a good opportunity.”

Secor plans to work toward a law degree and join the U.S. Navy, following in the footsteps of her older siblings who have also attended college and joined the armed forces. Her parents did not attend college. The work is hard at Legacy, but she’s gotten used to it, she said.

“It’s good because life’s not easy,” Secor said. “In a way, it’s a preparation for real life.”

Conversely, Velasquez is the eldest of her siblings, and the first to make plans to attend college. She hopes her younger brothers and sisters will follow her path.

“My family’s right behind me, because I’m the first one,” Velasquez said. “I want to make something of myself. My friend dropped out of the program because she thought she was missing out on the high school experience, but I’m glad I stayed in.”

Maldonado asked the students why they thought their peers shied away from hard work.

“Some kids just don’t want to go for it because they don’t think they can,” Secor said. “This will make kids go for it.”

Maldonado herself grew up in Eagle Pass, a poor border town, she said, and attended Southwest Texas Junior College to earn her associate’s degree. It wasn’t until 2000 that she applied to St. Edward’s University to earn her bachelor’s degree.

The experience of rising from poverty as well as serving on Texas school boards has affected her attitude toward education — she is one for strong reform and positive changes in the current system.

“These students are experiencing what I did eight years ago, but at a very young age,” Maldonado said. “At this level of teaching, the focus is on success.”

Maldonado said she does not yet know what information she will bring back to the legislature from the meeting, but that there are many aspects that need work to help programs like Legacy survive.

“There’s a mountain of opportunity here,” she said.