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Javier Garcia, Admissions Counselor for Texas State University in San Marcos, was guest speaker for Junior advisory class students on Friday, February 10, 2012. Founded in 1899 as a teacher education college, Texas State now has 97 bachelor's degree programs, 88 master's degree programs and 10 doctoral program options. "We're not just a teacher's college anymore," noted Garcia proudly. From courses to study the decomposition of the human body, to criminal justice courses in hostage negotiation, Texas State has a broad selection of courses to prepare students for 21st century careers.

Texas State has a student population of 34,000 students and is part of the Western Athletic conference (WAC) in 2012. "We are building a new freshman residence hall with a recreation center and workout room," said Garcia.  Freshmen are required to live on campus for the first year, and even though Legacy students would technically be college juniors, they would still be required to live on campus the first year. We want students to get involved the first year, to get to know the other students and become familiar with the campus, and we've found that students who are involved are happier."  Garcia invited the class to visit the main campus during Bobcat Days, held on February 25 and April 21, 2012. 

Photo by Sue Lawson

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Estevan Aviles, a 2011 graduate of Legacy Early College High School, visited with 43 Juniors on Friday morning, February 3, 2012 during Ms. Whitney Thomas's advisory class.  

He came to talk about campus life at the University of Texas at Austin, including such topics as finances, dorm life, registration, studying abroad, food on campus, and his future plans.

Aviles, who graduated with honors, really did not have a second choice for college and planned on attending UT because of its proximity, its academic stature and, because of LECHS, the opportunity to save $40,000 for a bachelor's degree from a nationally prominent college 25 miles from Taylor.  Estevan is planning a dual major in Studio Art and Advertising and his advice to students was brief but meaningful: "....study something you like, and make the effort."

Student feedback was overwhelmingly positive for the presentation's content.  Jesse Cabello wrote that, "I really liked all of it.  It was informative and gave me a grat idea of what college would be like.  If I had to pick a favorite part of the presentation it would be when he explained how much it cost and how there are many options when looking at college." 

Photo right - UT freshman Estevan Aviles and "intentional 2013 UT freshmen" let everyone know their heart already belongs to the Longhorns.   
Photo by Sue Lawson  

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Legacy seniors (L-R) Maresa Mitchell, Tatiana Alvarez and Angelica Celis have announced the first 2012 fundraiser for LECHS's end-of-year celebrations.  The fundraiser, a chili and cornbread dinner, will be held on Februrary 25, 2012 from 4-6 PM. Central pick-up locations at Hutto and Taylor will be announced within the next few days. Tickets are $5.00 per bowl and includes a choice of plain or jalapeno cornbread or crackers. Elizabeth Vargas, mother of Juan Vargas, is helping students to organize the event and prepare enough chili for every hungry person in our community on February 25th.

Sponsored by the Senior Council, every bowl of chili contributes to the end-of-year senior celebration which is planned to include a Spring Formal, the senior trip, and commencement. The deadline for ticket sales is February 10th, so find a senior LECHS student today, or contact Hunter Hartwig or Jeff McBride and order chili bowls for the whole family! 

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Legacy Early College High School has begun their annual recruiting season for the next rising ninth grade class.  If you are interested, please see the Month at a Glance calendar for all upcoming recruiting meetings.  Also, follow the link below for the Legacy application and more information about Legacy ECHS.

Legacy Information and Application

Media Release Form
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Legacy seniors introduced their Capstone projects to the student body, faculty, parents and guests on Friday, January 13th in the auditorium of the old Taylor High School. Last year's students researched the problems of animal cruelty and education finance, but on Friday morning the topics were different, more broadly based and more personal. After several months of brainstorming, research, preparation, and final rehearsals, the audience heard a composite of the world's problems as seen through the eyes of Taylor and Hutto youth.  

Photo: Natalee Eason talks with prospective team members about studying the problem of LGBT rights in America. Photos by Sue Lawson


Beginning promptly at 9 a.m., student presenters with assistance from their advisor Jeff McBride, engaged the audience with humor, drama, statistics, graphs, personal incidents, and passion for issues that are important to them.  Their multimedia presentations dramatized such subjects as Education in America, Bullying in Texas Schools, Childhood Obesity, LGBT Rights, Proactive Health in America, Human Trafficking, Teen Pregnancy, and Online Sexual Predators. Following each presentation, the audience began a Q/A session where thoughtful questions about the relevance of the problem, the plan to solve the problems, and the severity of the problem in America were voiced.

The audience then adjourned to the student center to visit with teams in display booths. Then, each class voted for the reserach team they wanted to join for the remaining time until Maymester when a sustainable action plan will be presented by each team.  Results of the vote, and team assignments, will be made within the next few days.

Photo right: Bastion Fennell, Juan Vargas and Jacob Rios gave the audience a multimedia presentation on the problems of education in America.