Arkansas Virtual Academy Graduate Receives Scholarship To Play The Bass

BENTONVILLE (KFSM) -- A Bentonville teen traded his traditional high school for an online school. This allowed him to spend more time playing an instrument that landed him a college scholarship.

McKay Clark has been playing the upright bass since he was in the sixth grade. He chose to do his senior year of high school at the Arkansas Virtual Academy. He said high school was hard and wanted to focus on his music rather than school work.

“That didn't work on a normal school schedule. So, when I found something that would allow me to do school work when I wanted to and to go to practices. It just really felt like the perfect opportunity,” Clark said.

Continue reading and watch the video here.

I didn't know anyone at the prom for my online high school — and I had a great night

For most graduating high school students, prom is the “last hoorah.”It signifies the end of four (or more) years surrounded by the same people. Whether you love or hate the people that make up your graduating class, they have been your closest community for a considerable amount of time. Prom is usually a time to celebrate the familiar before diving into uncharted territory. The word itself connotes images of limos, promposals, and all night after parties.

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Flexible Evening grads celebrate achievement

When the environment of a traditional high school environment became too much for Stephanie St. Clair, she knew she had to seek other options.

She had dealt with anxiety for much of her life, but after her junior year, the anxiety hit a fever pitch.

“I wasn’t able to focus on school at all because it got so bad,” she recalled.

So she made the decision to start attending Flexible Evening High School, through the Frederick County Virtual School program. On Monday evening, she became one of nine graduates to receive high school diplomas from the nontraditional school.

The program is designed to help high school-aged students earn credits to get their diplomas.

Read more about the program here.

Virtual School Made It Possible

Heidi Duke’s memories of high school vary a bit from the norm. Instead of going to her school’s campus, she studied online; and instead of doing assignments in a classroom, she did them at her house, in car trips on the way to doctors’ appointments, and in hospital waiting rooms.

In Heidi’s sophomore year, doctors diagnosed her with epilepsy. A condition, she said, she may have had since birth. Her seizures made it impossible to continue school at a traditional brick and mortar location, and so she enrolled as a student at St. Johns Virtual School.

Just this month, Heidi, 18, graduated with high marks from the program and plans to attend the University of North Florida in the fall.

“I’m proud of myself,” she said. “I didn’t think I’d finish with straight As. … I’m privileged they have virtual school for situations like mine, and for kids like me who need it.”

More here.

Georgia Cyber Academy offers unique learning experience

By 11 a.m. Monday through Friday, Owen, Payton, Melinda Kaye and Nathan Mercer of Port Wentworth have already completed a variety of school subjects — all without ever having to leave their family property. 

The four children are all students at the Georgia Cyber Academy, a K12 Inc. powered online public charter school, and are earning school credit through their own unique classrooms.

“I really like that we get to have smaller days,” Nathan Mercer said.” We can take of some school work on one day or work ahead. And so we get done with school a lot faster.”

GCA is the state’s first virtual charter school and has about 14,500 enrolled students. The Georgia Cyber Academy uses online curriculum and services provided by K12. Learning can happen at home, on the road, or wherever an Internet connection can be found, according to school officials. All students interact with one or more state-certified teachers and communicate regularly with their teachers through e-mail, telephone and online meetings. Students spend about four to six hours a day engaged in schoolwork.

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New Jersey girl masters virtual school, violin, piano at age 10

MEDFORD, NJ (WTXF) - Mastering a musical instrument can open the door to a world of possibilities. For Ariana Carden, those possibilities are being realized before the age of eleven.

With fast fingers and a gentle foot on the pedal, Ariana works on Chopin’s Minute waltz.

“She would pick up rhythms, hear the sounds and want to do something with the motion of her hand and the beats,” Ariana’s mother, Gina Carden, told Fox 29.

Read more about Ariana and watch the video here.

Virtual schools provide options for families

On May 7, the Walla Walla-based Merritt family shared its experience with online school in an article, “Home-based K-12 schools on the rise in Washington,” in the Union-Buletin.

As principal of Washington Connections Academy, the public online school that first-grader Preston Merritt attends, I want to share why I feel online school is an important option for families in Washington.

Continue reading here.

Virtual school student excels in taming wild horses

When doctors first diagnosed Shelly Nice with breast cancer, she wasn’t upset. She wasn’t concerned with the potentially life-threatening disease that invaded her body or the years of strenuous treatment ahead.

“Does this mean I don’t have to go to work this summer?,” she joked to her doctor.

But while Nice stared down her own mortality with a positive attitude, her 11-year-old daughter, Cat Zimmerman, struggled.

“She’s the one who was really affected,” Nice said. “I think people forget about the kids. You worry about the patient, and nobody thinks about some of these kids.

“They become collateral damage.”

And Nice said her daughter would have become collateral damage. If not for her horses.Zimmerman, a native of Morristown, New Jersey, and a soon-to-be full-time Alachua County resident, trains mustangs for competition.

More here.

Virtual school helps young mother succeed

Carson Woodward holds numerous titles, including mother. Now, she can claim two more: graduate and valedictorian. Woodward was top of her class of 32 seniors who received diplomas Wednesday from the Performance Learning Center (PLC) during a ceremony at James Brown Arena.

“I wouldn’t be where I am without this school,” Woodward said. “Because of (PLC), I now have plans for my future.”

To put it mildly, it’s been a challenging, yet rewarding two years for Woodward, who was originally scheduled to graduate in 2016.

More here.