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Middle College valedictorian gets a jump start on college

By Ripley Howe
News-Sentinel Staff Writer

D'Nell Kafton

D'Nell Kafton is on a fast track.

The Middle College High School valedictorian has already accumulated almost half of the 60 college credits she needs to transfer to a four-year college as a junior.

She said she plans to take a full load of courses at San Joaquin Delta College next year -- if she can handle the work, and gets the 31 credits she needs, she will manage to skip an entire year of college.

She knows it will be hard, keeping up with six college courses at once. But she said she is on a roll, and is motivated to pull it off.

At Middle College High, students must complete their core high school requirements. For their elective courses, they can take college courses and receive college credit.

Because she started Middle College as a junior, she was not able to get enough credits to transfer directly to a four-year college.

Kafton hasn't decided which college she wants to attend after she transfers, but says that Delta is attractive because of the low cost.

She may pursue a career as a special education sign language teacher, or may seek a degree in psychology.

In addition to keeping her choice of colleges open, Kafton is staying flexible about many of her future plans.

"I want to finish college, get married, have kids eventually, and travel the world or at least the 50 states," she said.

Kafton said that as a student at Middle College, she and her fellow students faced resistance from regular Delta College students, and even some faculty.

Because she and her classmates were high school students taking courses at a college campus, some at Delta apparently didn't think they belonged in classrooms with the regular students.

But D'Nell had a way of dealing with that.

In some of her college courses, she was the top student in the class, but she kept her secret to herself.

"I would wait until the end of the semester to tell the teacher that I was a high school student," she said.

Kafton started high school at Tokay High, but said she found it too impersonal there.

"At Delta, we only have 180 kids on campus," she said. "At Middle College, it's more personal and they expect more of you."

At Tokay, Kafton played volleyball and participated in track, but her athletic options were more limited at Middle College High, she said.

She said she has received dozens of awards, including the honor roll, principal's list and others.

This year, she received a Cal Grant and the California Governor's Scholarship.

And what was her most memorable high school experience?

"Some classes were unforgettable," she said. "But late-night drives in search of pointless things, giggle attacks, hypnotizing chickens and making up words like storf, oomippingtay and mammasickles rose above all else."