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‘Power of 15:’ Two Bunker Hill grads receive degree, diploma together

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Pictured from left are Bunker Hill Superintendent Todd Dugan, Vivien Wilcox, Grace Burris, and Lewis and Clark Community College President Ken Trzaska. The group posed for a photo the night of Bunker Hill High School’s 2026 Graduation Ceremony. (Photo provided by LC Marketing & PR)

 

Bunker Hill High School celebrated its Class of 2026 at a graduation ceremony May 15, but for two graduates, the night was doubly important.

Grace Burris and Vivien Wilcox were among those who received their high school diplomas that night, but they also received their associate degrees from Lewis and Clark Community College.

“Both students also received our ‘Academic Trailblazer’ award, named after Lewis and Clark’s mascot, which recognizes students who were the most ambitious in working toward their associate degrees,” said Bunker Hill Superintendent Todd Dugan.

LC President Ken Trzaska was in attendance to personally award the two graduates.

“Seeing students graduate with both a high school diploma and a college degree is incredibly powerful,” Trzaska said. “This partnership is about doing everything we can to open doors and remove barriers for students. We’re thrilled to celebrate Grace and Vivien, and all students who are pushing themselves and succeeding through this program.”

Burris didn’t start high school with the ambitious goal in mind, but after her sophomore year she started to realize the possibility of fast-tracking her degree and decided to lock in.

“I did a lot of dual credit,” she said. “I took almost every dual credit offering available at Bunker Hill and took AP classes too – although those weren’t as helpful.”

She also took advantage of College-Level Examination Program (CLEP), which allowed her to test out of several courses, including English, and earn college credit that way.

Additionally, Bunker Hill’s Power of 15 program allowed her to take concurrent enrollment courses – full college credit, either online or on Lewis and Clark’s campus – on the school district’s dime. The program covers tuition for qualifying students, up to 15 credit hours total, over the course of their junior and senior years. Students and their families cover fees and supplies.

Burris said most of her dual credit courses at Bunker Hill High School were mostly general education credits like history, college algebra and trigonometry. Through the Power of 15, she took additional general education courses, as well as courses related to her intended Nursing major, including Medical Terminology and Organic Chemistry.

“All of my teachers were supportive and willing to work with me,” she said of her experience at Lewis and Clark. “Everyone was super nice. No one cared that I was still in high school, and I made a lot of good friends that I still keep in touch with.”

She took summer courses on the college’s N.O. Nelson Campus in Edwardsville the summer between her sophomore and junior years in high school. During her junior and senior years, she took classes on the Godfrey Campus. By the last semester of her senior year, she was attending Lewis and Clark full time but driving back to Bunker Hill to continue participating in high school sports.

Burris earned her Associate in Science degree and Wilcox earned her Associate in Arts degree. Both are transfer degrees that will allow them to transfer seamlessly to the universities of their choice with upper class standing, helping them save time as well as thousands of dollars on tuition and fees (www.lc.edu/save).

They are the first Power of 15 students to graduate with their associate degrees but likely won’t be the last. Dugan said the Bunker Hill School Board would like to see more students leaving the high school with both a diploma and a degree.

“Universities are expensive,” said Dugan, who is a father and overall supporter of higher education. “Through this program and our partnership with Lewis and Clark, students can get halfway to their bachelor’s degree with no debt.”

Last semester, Burris had the opportunity to speak about how the Power of 15, plus her access to career and technical education courses in high school, have been a recipe for her success at a statewide conference for the Association for Illinois Rural and Small Schools.

She was able to network with high school principals and superintendents from across the state and meet other students benefiting from post-secondary training offerings in high school. Some were not college-bound, like her, but had direct admission agreements with their local trade unions, she said.

The conference was held in Decatur, where she plans to attend Millikin University in the fall in pursuit of a bachelor’s degree in Nursing. She also plans to play softball for the Big Blue.

“I tell everyone to take advantage of this program,” Burris said. “I think some people are scared, and it is a lot of responsibility, but the payoff is worth the effort.”

‘Power of 15’ expands post-secondary options for Bunker Hill students

A few years ago, Bunker Hill High School was determined to find a way to address a decline in students pursuing post-secondary education and prepare them for successful careers.

“We were faced with the same problems a lot of schools were having,” said Superintendent Todd Dugan. “Under half of our student body was continuing to pursue post-secondary education. We also noticed our high school students were disengaged regarding experiences that were relevant to the real world.”

Dugan came across research conducted by Good Reason Houston, an education nonprofit that partners with school districts to improve public education and ensure every child has access to a high-quality learning environment. It showed that high school graduates with a bachelor’s degree were 3.8 times more likely to earn a living wage than high school graduates with no credential, and those with professional certifications were 3 times more likely.

While that data centered on Texas schools, similar studies can be applied locally as well.

According to a recent economic impact report from the Illinois Community College Board, Illinois students who complete post-secondary education gain an average of $4.30 in higher future earnings for every $1 invested in their education, for a rate of return around 15 percent.

The Good Reason Houston report concluded that students taking five college-level courses while still in high school were about 22 percent more likely to have post-secondary success.

Out of that, the idea for “The Power of 15” was born.

Dugan modeled the program from a school doing something similar in the suburbs of Chicago. He was working with a smaller district and less access to funding but still pitched the Power of 15 program as a pilot to the Bunker Hill CUSD 8 School Board, who agreed to move forward.

To incentivize students to take college-level courses while still in high school, the program covers tuition for up to 15 college credit hours at Lewis and Clark for qualifying juniors and seniors while they are still enrolled at Bunker Hill High School. Students and their families are expected to cover fees and supplies.

Students must carry a GPA of 2.75 or higher to qualify for the program. Because some of the classes are on the college’s campus, online or in the evenings, students are required to check in with the high school once per week, or they risk getting dropped for non-attendance.

If they are unsuccessful, whether due to grades or non-attendance, they owe the tuition money back to the district.

To build their schedules, which are typically a mix of high school and college courses, the students work closely with Bunker Hill High School Counselor Theresa Dissen and Lewis and Clark High School Liaison Cora Gill to ensure they’re taking the right credits and putting together a schedule that works for them.

Bunker Hill High School also offers dual credit courses through LC’s High School Partnership program. That program allows students to earn college credit through courses taught by Master’s degree–qualified high school teachers on the high school’s campus.

Dual credit courses cost a fee of $10 per credit hour currently, which makes them cost effective for students and families, but smaller districts often struggle to maintain a large number of those offerings due to Illinois Community College Board requirements around who meets the qualifications to teach those courses.

The ICCB guidelines on teacher qualifications ensures academic rigor and the curriculum taught matches what a student would receive in a college course.

Concurrent enrollment courses cost $136 per credit hour, plus fees, for in-district students. The Power of 15 removes that tuition cost burden from students and their families and allows the high school to expand their post-secondary offerings.

The Power of 15 just ended its second pilot year in May. In year one, there were 11 students. This past year, Dugan said that number grew to 24.

Currently, the district budgets around $10,000 per year to support the initiative.

Dugan says the upcoming 2026-2027 academic year will probably be the last pilot year for the program, after which a thorough cost analysis will be completed, and he will likely advocate to expand it even further.

So far, anecdotal feedback from students has been very positive.

“One student said the program was the best thing to happen to her,” Dugan said.

The Power of 15 program is also shedding light on the district’s positive relationship with Lewis and Clark Community College and raising awareness of the college’s presence and what it has to offer district residents.

“We appreciate having such a good relationship with the college,” Dugan said.

Lewis and Clark President Ken Trzaska said Bunker Hill deserves credit for this investment in their students and community and their innovative effort to remove barriers to higher education for their students.

“We’re proud to stand alongside them and support a vision that’s creating real opportunity and success,” Trzaska said.

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