Every Wednesday evening, Honey Cooper packs her art supplies and heads to class. Not at Kimbark Elementary, where she spends her days, but at San Bernardino Valley College, where she finds a seat near the front, among students nearly twice her age.
The 10-year-old fourth-grader from San Bernardino is paving the way for younger students to access college courses. She is enrolled in ART 120, a two-dimensional design course worth four college credits. Cases like hers are a rare occurrence, according to San Bernardino Valley College officials.
“Even though they might be young, they still always need to be challenged,” said her mother, Mia Cooper. “And this is a new way for them to be challenged.”
Outside of school, Honey is a busy kid. She is a GATE-identified student, California’s designation for gifted and talented learners. She reads at a high school level and participates in Broadway Now, an educational theater program operating within the San Bernardino City Unified School District…