THE WOMEN'S ISSUE Jaycee Sansom, 17, who lives in Pittsboro, was drawn to CSSE for
its smaller learning environment. The school provided Jaycee the chance to take courses like advanced physics, calculus and differential equations. “[This program] is better suited for me and how I want to advance than a regular high school would’ve been,” she says. “I’ve always been interested in making stuff and trying to improve the world. Computers have always been a hobby for me. I’ve never really wanted to do anything other than work with computers.” She has already been accepted to her “dream college,” UNC, and plans to study computer science.
Jaycee SANSOM Bella OCAMPO Molly HUX Stephanie HELBERT
CHATHAM SCHOOL OF SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, CLASS OF 2020 44
CHATHAM MAGAZINE
“[CSSE] does a very good job of being inclusive,” says Bella Ocampo, 17, who lives in Siler City. “I feel like I’m able to be myself and speak up for myself.” Bella, who lives in Siler City, has always been driven to get ahead, and CSSE was a perfect fit. “It was growing up very quickly and having to be mature,” she says, “this school has made me better at adapting to change.” Bella is still waiting to hear back from both some instate and out-of-state colleges. Wherever she ends up, she plans to major in economics, minor in Latino studies and attend law school to become an immigration lawyer. “It’s a personal matter, and it would be very fulfilling for me.”
Four years ago, Chatham middle school students were given the opportunity to opt out of traditional high school and enroll instead at the new Chatham School of Science and Engineering (CSSE). Forgoing a big campus experience, they would concentrate on STEMfocused academics, spend their freshman and sophomore years in a small school building in Siler City and their junior and senior years taking classes at Central Carolina Community College in Pittsboro, completing an associate degree. This spring, the four girls pictured here at CCCC – along with classmate Annabelle Crook of Pittsboro – will be the school’s first female graduates.
APRIL / MAY 2020