This spring, 17 students of Vienna High School’s Class of 2026 are also graduating with their college degrees.
For over a decade, Vienna High School has had multiple students march to pomp and circumstance back-to-back. Class of 2026 seniors Brynndolyn Schiller, Bryce Partridge, Destiny Graham, Heather Aldrich, Kristen Williams, Laney Slife, Briley Merchant, Cadence Hennesy, Iris Mount, Korina Mize, Nella Billingsley, Addeanna Steinmann, Nevaeh Nagy, Emily Beggs, Kylie Vaughn, Gabrielle Buretz, and Sydnie Kerley have not only completed their requirements for high school graduation, but have also completed their associate’s degrees at Shawnee Community College.
Collectively, Vienna’s graduating class completed more than 3,000 credit hours toward their college degrees through early college and dual credit partnerships with Southeastern Illinois College, John A. Logan College, and Southern Illinois University.
“Vienna’s early college program has been providing students with a start to their post-secondary plans for many years now. It is exciting to see students either get a jump start or actually complete their associate’s degree while in high school. Even more thrilling to watch has been the full circle effect of seeing these students, within two years of high school graduation, complete bachelor’s degrees, go on to complete master’s degrees, and get into successful careers, many of which are back in our community,” said Dr. Joshua Stafford, Superintendent.
Vienna is a career-connected early college high school offering numerous early college credit hours, career pathways, Illinois State Board of Education-approved College and Career Pathway Endorsements, and comprehensive career services that provide career road maps for all students. Additionally, Vienna supports statewide scaling of early college and career-connected learning through involvement in numerous legislative committees, advocacy groups, and as a resource and partner to other schools that have worked to develop similar programming. More information about Vienna’s career connection work can be found at viennahs.com/cc.
As these students move into the future, they have varied plans and ambitions.
- Heather Aldrich, attending the University of Tennessee at Martin, will study Art and Spanish.
- Emily Beggs, attending Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, will study Law, Psychology, and Spanish.
- Nella Billingsley, attending Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, will major in Music Education and Performance.
- Gabrielle Buretz, attending Maryville University, will major in Music Therapy, while also performing on the cheerleading team.
- Destiny Graham, attending Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, will major in Social Work and minor in Criminal Justice.
- Cadence Hennesy, attending Washington and Lee University, will major in Business Administration and Management and in Environmental Studies with a minor in Entrepreneurship.
- Sydnie Kerley, attending Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, will major in Pre-Pharmacy. She will later attend their PharmD program, to which she has already been accepted.
- Briley Merchant, attending Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, will major in Nursing.
- Iris Mount, attending Hillsdale College, will major in Political Economy and Mathematics.
- Korina Mize, attending Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, to major in Psychology.
- Nevaeh Nagy, attending the University of Kentucky, will major in Nursing.
- Laney Slife, attending Murray State University, to major in Exercise Science.
- Bryce Partridge, attending Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona, Florida will major in Space Operations.
- Brynndolyn Schiller, attending Southeast Missouri State University, will major in Social Work and minor in Childhood Trauma and Outcomes.
- Addeanna Steinmann, attending McKendree University, will major in Elementary Education.
- Kylie Vaughn, attending Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, will major in Elementary Education.
- Kristen Williams, attending Murray State University, will major in Exercise Science or Psychology.