Have a Great School Year

Posted On: 08-30-2021

By the time you read this school will be underway and MYSSA wants to know we wish you the best this year, both in shooting and in your academics.  The later I want to explore a little to encourage your future success.

B.B King the great blues guitar legend once said, “The most beautiful thing about learning is no one can take it away from you.”  You must agree with him and realize how important education is to your future.  For those of you in your senior year it is as they say, “Go Time!”  These last few semesters have a huge impact on your ability to get into higher education and the possibilities once you are accepted. 

Missouri has the A+ program that ensures all youth the opportunity for a two-year associates degree for free with the following caveats:

• Be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident.
• Enter into a written agreement with your high school prior to graduation.
• Attend a designated A+ high school for 2 years prior to graduation.
• Graduate from an A+ designated high school with an overall unweighted grade point average of 2.5 or higher on a 4.0 scale.
• Have at least a 95% attendance record overall for grades 9-12.
• Perform at least 50 hours of unpaid tutoring or mentoring, of which up to 25% may include job shadowing prior to graduation.
• Maintain a record of good citizenship and avoid the unlawful use of drugs and/or alcohol while in grades 9-12.
• Have achieved a score of proficient or advanced on the Algebra I end of course exam or a higher level DESE approved end-of-course exam in the field of mathematics.

Of note in these basic rules are the written agreement that must not be ignored even if you do not plan on attending immediately after graduation.  In addition, attendance, and 50 hours of tutoring or mentoring are required. 

There are of course some great advantages to gaining this free education.  Among them are the assured entrance into a four-year school if one completes the two-year associates degree.  While higher education is indeed expensive consider that even if one receives no scholarships the four-year degree is now half price. 

Your participation in youth shooting sports, other extra-curricular activities, good grades, community volunteering and leadership all couple to make you a strong candidate for scholarships that can lower tuition even more.  Should you decide to continue shooting competitively these scholarships may in fact support your education even though a shooting scholarship may not be available.  Here are some schools we list on our website as having shooting programs.   

Best of luck to all this year.

David R. Vaught, Ph.D.