Representatives from TJC came to the high school on Nov. 8 to meet with freshmen and their parents regarding the TJC Promise Scholarship. The students officially signed contracts accepting the scholarships and agreeing to the terms of the award.

“Lindale is such a great school,” TJC President Dr. Mike Metke said. “You’ve got visionary leadership here. You’ve got great students, and your teachers have the highest qualifications in this region, so it seemed like a natural fit.”

This program is an agreement that TJC created with students starting with the freshman class. The students will receive a scholarship covering the full cost of tuition and fees at TJC as long as they maintain a GPA of 2.5 or higher, have less than 10 absences per year, and complete at least 10 community service hours per year.

“The biggest benefit I see with the Lindale-TJC Promise is now we aren’t going to just be thinking about college just our senior year or junior year, it’s really going to be a four-year thought pattern,” Superintendent Stan Surratt said. “As a community and as a high school we are going to be talking about college for four years preparing for college, and I think it’s going to do great things for us.”

 The class of 2020 will be the first class to participate in this program with TJC. The program will then continue to be available for the classes to follow.

“I am thankful that I got the chance to be a part of this,” freshman Kathryn Anderson said. “I think it will really be helpful for people who aren’t able to afford college.”