Senior sendoff: Student graduates high school and college at the same time
An Ohio high school student is making history at Cincinnati Public Schools, becoming the district's first student to simultaneously earn a high school diploma and a bachelor's degree.
Caden Elrod, 18, is set to walk across the stage with his classmates at the Walnut Hills graduation ceremony Thursday night. But he already crossed another stage three weeks ago, graduating from the University of Cincinnati with a degree in mathematics and statistics.
Despite his accelerated academic path, Elrod said he made time for typical high school activities.
"I've been to all my proms, homecoming, all the dances," Elrod said. "Every single semester that I've been at Walnut, I've done a sport: cross-country, golf, tennis, ultimate frisbee."
But his time in high school is coming to a close.
"Actually, yesterday we had the senior sendoff. I went to that. I had fun with all my friends and everything. And then before that, we had the senior boat cruise," he said.
Elrod began taking college courses in sixth grade.
"I was a little 12-year-old, and it was a little bit strange to people. I think that public speaking was one of my first classes, so that was strange. But as I got older, other students saw I just looked young, and so I was able to make a lot more friends," he said.
He credits much of his academic journey to Cincinnati Public Schools counselor Renita Brooks.
"Miss Brooks, she helped me out so much and figured out how to do all of this," Elrod said.
"Caden was my case study," Brooks said.
She found a path that worked for him to experience high school with his friends, while allowing him to reach his full potential.
"I'm going to support you. And if somebody else doesn't, they'll come to me and I got your back," Brooks said.
Elrod is headed to work in autonomous vehicle research for the U.S. Navy. He says he's considering pursuing a Ph.D. in machine learning or attending law school in the future.
