KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — The Roach family of Knoxville has deep ties to Fulton High School.

Cedric and Michelle Roach, Class of 1999, were high school sweethearts. They married five years after graduation, and went on to have three children who also went to Fulton and are knocking it out of the park with their grades and their ambition.

They say Project Grad had a lot to do with it.

Thumbing through the yearbook in the Fulton library to find their parents’ photos is fun for Cedric and Michelle Roach’s three kids.

Cedric Roach Jr. graduated in 2021 and is a sophomore at the University of Tennessee.

“I’m on a pre-med track,” he told WATE. “So, hopefully, I’ll pursue medical or physician assistant school.”

Elijah Roach is graduating this year, “I’ve been accepted to UT, I’m hoping to go into computer science, maybe minor in music.”

And Olivia Roach, a Fulton sophomore, is planning her future.

“I’m hoping I get a scholarship into UT,” she said. “And I was going to try to study forensic anthropology.”

The teens have sky-high grade point averages and bright futures.

Cedric and Michelle Roach, like most parents, wanted more for their children than what they had.

“I  didn’t go to college,” Cedric Roach Sr. said. “I went straight to the military to Marine Corps reserves and served here at Delta Company locally.”

Michelle Roach said, “I went to a little bit of college but because of financial situation and everything, I didn’t have the ability to stay, so I didn’t complete my degree, and I always told my kids there are a ton of different paths. You don’t have to go to a four-year university. You can always go to get welding or you know, some career like that, be a cosmetologist, just have something in your back pocket.”

The Roach Family graduated two years before Project Grad came to Knoxville.

“We didn’t know much about Project Grad at the time,” Cedric Roach Sr. said. “We looked into it and said, ‘Yeah, that’s a really good idea.'”

They had their kids transferred to Fulton because of the Project Grad program.

“Project Grad was a big part of my decision-making process,” Cedric Roach Jr. said, “And me getting through everything, with the process of getting to college.”

Olive Roach added, “It’s also helped me know what I”m going to do with my future and how to get there.”

Elijah Roach said, “When I look at it, I’m definitely happy with it.”