Known as the “Fantastic Four,” a group of stand-out students from Athens Bible School proved they could graduate from high school and community college at the same time. Ally Holmes, Kadyn Bell, Lela Ball and Beth Romine received their associate’s degree May 12 from Calhoun Community College and will receive their diplomas May 22 from ABS.

When the private Christian school initially started the dual enrollment program in 1997, they offered nine hours of dual credit. Fourteen years later, Randy Adams took over as principal and boosted the program, adding 20 more credit hours. Today, many of the high school level teachers at ABS are qualified to teach dual enrollment courses, offering 60-70 hours of dual enrollment credits in classes ranging from Spanish to chemistry. Adam’s daughter Rebecca was the first student in the school to earn a dual degree in 2006.

This expansion has allowed students like the members of the “Fantastic Four” to have access to enough classes to earn an associate’s degree by the time they are done with high school.

According to the four, finishing their senior year with two diplomas was well worth it, but it didn’t come easy.

Holmes, who is the first ABS student ever to be accepted at Athens State University directly out of high school, said, “It was a challenge for me to learn to prioritize my time. I bought a planner and put everything in order, or I would have never been able to handle it.”

Holmes plans to study elementary education at ASU and then transfer to the University of North Alabama to earn her master’s degree in education.

Hoping to return to this area to teach, Holmes said she encourages everyone to dual enroll.

“It gives you such a leg up,” she said. If all goes as planned, Holmes will have her master’s degree by the time she is 21.

Bell hopes to get into the physical therapy program at Auburn. She settled on Auburn because it reminded of her home, and they gave her an offer she couldn’t refuse — nearly a full ride for earning a 30 on the ACT.

Ball, who seems to be the quiet one in the bunch, plans to attend Judson College in Marion, where the aspiring writer will study English and analytical creative writing. She started writing in the sixth grade and discovered not only did she enjoy it, she was pretty good at it.

Her friends think she should self-publish the fantasy series she’s written, something Ball said she’s seriously considering.

“I want to spread my ideas to the world. I’d like to write for some papers and do some articles about things in general and current events,” she said.

Romine, who Adams describes as the “flower child” of the group, isn’t sure what she’ll major in once she gets to college, but she knows she’ll be attending Florida College. After all, her grandparents, parents and siblings all went to the small Christian college in the Tampa Bay area.

“I’m sort of interested in everything, so I’ll try to figure it out while I’m there,” Romine said.

“That’s the nice thing about dual enrollment,” Adams said. “It takes a plot of the pressure of of these kids once they get to college.”

Adams said he is delighted with all 24 of the students graduating from ABS this year but is particularly proud of the “Fantastic Four.”

“They’ve worked hard and been consistent,” Adams said. “Even when they got discouraged, they kept their chins up. They are an impressive group.”