Draped in honors cords and stoles, Aysha Mann made history Monday when she got her diploma from North Side High School.
With a 4.0 GPA, or a 99.93% — the highest of the graduating class — the 17-year old became the first student to graduate in three years’ time in the school’s known history and the first student at the school and in the district to do so through the state’s Move on When Ready Act.
The act requires that students not only meet regular graduation requirements, but also score 21 or better on the ACT, pass a nationally recognized language proficiency assessment and complete two early post-secondary courses.
Mann knew it was rare to graduate high school early, but she said she didn’t know she was making history.
“Being in Jackson, I didn’t really believe there was much for me,” Mann said. “I wanted to start my college experience and when I found out I had the opportunity, I couldn’t miss it.”
In middle school, the process that put her on track to graduating a year early started, whether she knew it then or not. She attended the Academic Academy at Northeast Middle School, gaining three high school credits and allowing her to immediately begin her required coursework in high school.
Even though she couldn’t be valedictorian because she wasn’t a part of the senior cohort, Mann, a softball short-stop and center fielder and a cheerleader, earned the following, among others:
- State and local honors;
- Graduation of Distinction;
- TN Hope Lotto Scholarship Award;
- TN Ready Graduate;
- TN Scholars;
- Community Service Award;
- Daughters of the American Revolution Award;
- AP English Excellence Award;
- AP Calculus Excellence Award;
- and the president’s academic gold level.
