Spraggins receives college degree before high school degree

Kanzi Spraggins’ family attended his graduation from South Louisiana Community College on Thursday.
Kanzi finished with an overall grade point average of 3.9 and also earned 61 college credits for an associate’s degree.
So, what separates Kanzi from the rest of the community college graduates?
He received an associate degree before he ever received his high school diploma.
Kanzi is a senior at Lighthouse Christian Academy in Abbeville. Last week he walked on stage at the SLCC campus in Lafayette and received a college degree. This week, he will walk on another stage in order to receive his high school diploma.
That is right; for the last two years, Kanzi has been attending SLCC while enrolled in high school. He began when he was a junior in high school. He drove everyday either in the morning or late afternoon. Then, he took a couple of classes in the summer.
“It felt weird being on stage, but at the same time, it gave me a lot of confidence in my self,” said Kanzi as he began getting ready for his high school graduation. “It made me feel good, knowing what I accomplished right
before starting in a university environment.”
His senior year in high school was also his sophomore year in college. He took english classes, a handful of math classes and behavioral science classes. While writing papers for high school, he was also having to write english and psychology papers for SLCC.
Out of the 61 credits he earned at SLCC, half will transfer to UL, where he will major in electrical engineering in the fall.
After his mother, Tiffany Spraggins, who is the principal at Lighthouse, came up with the idea about attending SLCC instead of UL, Kanzi was for it.
Not many mothers get to attend two separate graduations for the same child in a seven-day period.
“It was phenomenal,” said Tiffany about seeing her son on stage at SLCC. “I looked at him lately, and he looks all grown up. Thursday night (at SLCC), he looked so young. I am proud of him.”
On Friday, Kanzi was busy with his 10 senior classmates preparing for graduation. Despite having an associate degree in his back pocket, he could not wait for high school graduation.
“This graduation holds more emotional value to me,” he said. “This classmates are who I grew up with. It is something special.”
Kanzi made a 25 composite on his ACT and scored a 32 in english. He will graduate as the valedictorian for Lighthouse with a 4.2 grade point average.
This summer, there is no more school for Kanzi until the fall. He said he plans to do as much traveling as possible.
“I have been in school for almost two years straight without taking summers off,” he said. “I need to take a break.”
He earned it.