Year: 2021

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Teen who endured tragedy finds success through online education

Teen who endured tragedy finds success through online education

Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes

One of the great lessons from the pandemic is that education must include flexibility. While some students struggled during a year of mostly crisis virtual instruction, most flourished with intentional online learning. Utah Online School is leading the way in online education and has been for years.

With more than 15 years of experience in a flexible learning environment and serving more than 10,000 students each year, UOS has time-tested methods for accommodating the needs of students.

UOS emphasizes student success by tailoring learning to student needs with the support of certified teachers, adult mentors, and counselors. Best of all, UOS is an accredited public school, free to Utah students.

How UOS helped one student

At 15, Kelly has experienced a lifetime’s worth of trauma, including multiple moves, her parent’s divorce and eventually the tragic death of her father days before the start of her freshman year in a new school.

A few months later, COVID hit and effectively ended her schooling for many months.

Kelly moved to Utah to live with her grandparents. She was short on some credits needed, so during the summer, she enrolled in and completed two classes through UOS. Best of all, they were courses she couldn’t take at her boundary school because demand exceeded capacity.

“The Utah Online School experience was great,” said her grandfather. “The courses were thorough and the process was smooth. There was no pressure, so Kelly was able to work at her own pace. Anytime there was a question or concern, the teachers and staff at UOS responded the same day.”

Now a junior, Kelly is able to make up some of her missing credits at her boundary school, and she also plans to take additional summer courses at UOS.

Focused on needs and flexibility for students and families

Even with the current school year underway, students have options of taking courses from UOS while still attending their local school. No matter the situation, UOS can support the needs of students through their expansive course offerings and supportive learning environment.

Early high school credit available for 6-8th grade students

Many students are eager and able to get a head start on their high school credits. This allows flexibility in their future high school schedule or early graduation for students interested in this option.

Teen who endured tragedy finds success through online education
Photo: oushad Thekkayil/Shutterstock.com

Grade replacement

Utah Online provides students the opportunity to retake a course to replace a grade on their transcript.

Credit recovery

Utah Online helps students recover failed credit needed for graduation. Students may sign up for credit recovery during the school year or summer.

Expansive course offerings

At many schools, popular elective courses are often restricted to seniors or are filled by random selection because demand far exceeds available slots. That’s not a problem at UOS. In fact, UOS offers far more courses than many boundary schools.

In addition to traditional subjects like reading, art, history and math, UOS has courses like computer science, programming, coding, world languages (20-plus), music (guitar, ukulele, music theory and more), wildlife and marine biology, honors courses and ACT prep.

Do you have a student who will be old enough to drive? UOS offers drivers education that includes the curriculum and simulator requirements. Students can also earn physical education credit for participating in any physical activity they are involved in, privately or through club sports. Students receiving private music instruction can earn high school credit through the Independent Studio Study course, which can be taken repeatedly as long as they are in music or voice lessons with an instructor.

You can see the vast list of course offerings at the UOS website and the list of available subjects is constantly growing.

A record of success

Utah Online School serves more than 10,000 students each year with more than 150 teachers, counselors and staff. In 15-plus years, the cumulative total of students served has exceeded 110,000. Those numbers continue to rise as parents seek ways to provide their children with the best available education.

Over that time UOS has achieved a course completion rate exceeding 90{e4f787673fbda589a16c4acddca5ba6fa1cbf0bc0eb53f36e5f8309f6ee846cf} and a graduation rate of 99{e4f787673fbda589a16c4acddca5ba6fa1cbf0bc0eb53f36e5f8309f6ee846cf}.

Teachers and staff at Utah Online School are highly qualified, licensed and certified. They are also passionate about helping students. “I am able to customize and individualize content for students’ specific needs in a way that was not possible previously. And as someone who went into education because I truly love teaching high school kids and love this age group in general, this has been a dream job!” says teacher Kellie Richins.

Madison Belnap, another teacher at Utah Online School says, “Teaching for Utah Online High School is a privilege. I love the opportunity to teach students from all over the state, with diverse backgrounds and varying circumstances. Connecting with these different students is so expanding for me as their lives add a level of abundance to my experience as an educator.”

Whether your student is seeking part-time, full-time or concurrent enrollment, Utah Online School has the experience and expertise to help them find educational success.

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Code Ninjas Debuts in Lake Nona, Will Teach Kids to Code in a Cool New Way

Code Ninjas Debuts in Lake Nona, Will Teach Kids to Code in a Cool New Way

LAKE NONA, Fla., Nov. 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Code Ninjas, one of the fastest-growing kids coding franchises, is opening their newest location at 10743 Narcoossee Rd. on Nov. 29. Code Ninjas will serve the local area by offering computer coding courses for kids. The courses will allow kids to problem-solve while they build video games and collaborate with other children their age. This new learning center will establish an environment where children can learn about technology while having fun.

The Lake Nona location is owned and operated by local entrepreneurs Brock and Elissa Horton. With a background in digital animation and game production, Brock developed a passion for coding. Elissa spent over three years as an elementary teaching assistant working in special education and found it to be one of the most rewarding professions. When Brock approached her about opening their own coding franchise for kids, she was all-in.

“Coding is an invaluable language for kids to learn and Code Ninjas allows for them to hone their abilities in an interactive and social environment,” says Brock. “We provide kids with knowledge they can take with them for years to come. This is truly one of the most rewarding opportunities you can have as a business owner.”

Brock recently lost his father and decided he would use his inheritance to create something meaningful. He decided that opening a Code Ninjas learning center was a great way to honor his dad; providing educational opportunities for a new generation of kids.

Lake Nona children (ages 5-14) can look forward to the new Code Ninjas center where they can learn how to code in a fun, safe, and social environment. At Code Ninjas, gaming is celebrated, and STEM is cool. Everything about their centers – or Dojos – are built around fun, which keeps kids coming back. The center also provides the results that parents are looking for, as their children gain coding and problem-solving skills they’ll need in the evolving job market.

“At Code Ninjas, kids develop problem-solving and social skills, and they build confidence in an encouraging environment,” says Elissa. “Code Ninjas combines screen time and social interaction in a way that is productive and beneficial for kids. And once they level-up through all of the belts, they get to proudly take home their very own video game.”

Code Ninjas offers a robust, game-based curriculum made up of nine belts, just like martial arts. The courses are self-paced, but not self-taught; kids get immediate help and encouragement from Code Senseis (teachers) and fellow students as they advance from white to black belt. The program keeps kids motivated with little wins along the way, and “Belt-Up” celebrations where they receive color-coded wristbands to mark their graduation to the next level. By the time a child finishes the program, they will publish their own app, available to the public in an app store.

Code Ninjas also offers a variety of opportunities for children to get involved, including a flexible weeknight drop-in program, camps and Parents Night Out events on weekends.

For more information about the Lake Nona Code Ninjas location, please visit www.codeninjas.com/lake-nona-fl or call 407-203-3006.

About Code Ninjas
Founded in 2016, Code Ninjas® is the world’s largest and fastest-growing kids coding franchise. In hundreds of Code Ninjas centers, kids ages 7-14 have fun building video games while gaining life-changing skills in coding, robotics, and problem solving. Kids have fun, parents see results®. For more information, visit www.codeninjas.com.

Media Contact: Allie Bertrand, Fishman PR, [email protected] or 847-945-1300

SOURCE Code Ninjas

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Laguna Blanca honors physical education teacher Andra Wilson

Laguna Blanca honors physical education teacher Andra Wilson
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Andra Wilson, a health and physical education teacher at Laguna Blanca School, has received the 2021 Faculty Excellence Award. Andra Wilson is known for her dedication to keeping students healthy through her physical education classes.

Andra Wilson has received Laguna Blanca’s 2021 Faculty Excellence Award.

Ms. Wilson has taught physical education, health, wellness and personal development since 2006 at the school, which has campuses in Hope Ranch in Santa Barbara and Montecito. 

She also has served as assistant athletic director, P.E. coach at Camp Cito day camp and coordinator of the Middle School Advisory Program for several years.

Mostly recently, Ms. Wilson became Laguna’s Challenge Success coordinator.

“Andra infuses energy and excitement into every role she has on campus,” Laguna Blanca staff said in a news release. “Her love for health and wellness extends not only to Laguna students but to the faculty and staff as well. She was instrumental to bringing bi-weekly on-campus workouts to campus for Laguna employees through Reveal Fitness.”

During the pandemic, Ms. Wilson helped students before they were allowed back on campus. She presented 20 one-minute virtual fitness challenges that kept students and faculty healthy during the pandemic. “It was the perfect example of her athleticism and the joy she brings to teaching,” Laguna Blanca staff noted.

“This year alone, Andra stepped into a multitude of challenges and added COVID responsibilities to her plate in order to best serve her students,” said Melissa Alkire, head of the Upper School. “This was evidenced in the Middle and Upper athletic training program that she began when all other schools in the county were neither in-person nor able to maintain in-person afternoon activities for their school.

“Andra’s work across every single grade at Hope Ranch ensured that our students were finding balance and joy after their early days of remote school,” Ms. Alkire said in the news release. “When sports began, Andra supported Director of Athletics Jason Donnelly fully as he worked to unpack the COVID guidance, which was evolving each week. She was his teammate and demonstrated her strong character in this role.”

In addition, Ms. Wilson partnered with Pacific Pride Foundation to hold inclusive conversations about relationships and gender identity.

“I wish we could have an entire faculty full of Andras,” colleague Tara Broucqsault said. “She has thrived at each level at Laguna. Her pure heart inspires all those fortunate enough to call her teacher and a trusted colleague.”

Ms. Wilson grew up in Malvern, Pa., and earned a bachelor’s in health and physical education at West Chester University in West Chester, Pa. She began her career as a collegiate-certified athletic trainer before completing her Pennsylvania teacher certification in 2003.

Then she worked as a health and physical education teacher in Pennsylvania’s Central Bucks School District before moving in 2006 to Santa Barbara and teaching at Laguna Blanca School.

email: [email protected]

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Sixth graders will remain in Kent elementary schools for now

Sixth graders will remain in Kent elementary schools for now

Any changes to Kent School District boundaries and moving sixth graders to middle schools from elementary schools won’t happen until at least the 2023-2024 school year.

District staff recommended waiting to make a decision, and the Kent School Board agreed.

“We want to be certain you guys are comfortable moving this direction of sixth grade in middle school, clear feeder patterns and to balance out elementary enrollments is where we want to be going,” said Randy Heath, district interim chief of school operations and academic support, during a November presentation to the board.

Heath said staff knows the planning work and making decisions will take time.

“The more we looked at it and to do it in a purposeful way with the community engaged in the work, 2023-2024 would be an appropriate time,” Heath said at the Nov. 10 board meeting.

That plan worked for the five-member board.

“I appreciate the time extension,” Director Joe Bento said. “It was going to be for next school year, so I thank you for that.”

Board members emphasized they want to be sure to involve community residents in the decisions about where to draw school boundaries, feeder patterns and whether sixth graders should be moved to middle schools.

“The last time we had these conversations my concern was equity among the voices heard,” Director Denise Daniels said. “We had pretty vocal parents that knew who to talk to. I’m not sure there was the opportunity for other neighborhoods that also were impacted. …We need all input, not just certain groups of parents. We need to hear from a multitude of neighborhoods.”

The district said in a statement that it will be convening subcommittees comprised of community members, parents, staff and administrators to conduct additional analysis and help create effective implementation plans. An application process will be identified for those interested in becoming a subcommittee member and a timeline established to move this work forward. The subcommittees will provide regular updates to the school board throughout this school year on the progress of its objectives.

The board in February approved boundary changes for certain schools to feed students into the new River Ridge Elementary that opened in August on the West Hill in the city of SeaTac.

But the board decided earlier this year against voting on other changes recommended by MGT Consulting Group that would move sixth grade into middle schools, reopen the former Kent Phoenix Academy (previously Sequoia Middle School) as a new middle school, aligning school feeder patterns and adjusting school boundaries to help balance enrollment districtwide.

Heath told the board a number of reasons support moving sixth graders to middle school.

“It’s the most appropriate placement of sixth graders academically and socially,” Heath said.

He said state guideline standards favor dividing students into the sixth through eighth grades. He said it gives students a chance to have three years of lab science to better prepare them and that most elementary schools do no have labs. It also gives students increased opportunities for academic acceleration and electives.

“Instead of math at the sixth grade level they can take a higher math level,” Heath said. “They have more electives at middle schools, which could be band or choir.”

The clear feeder patterns are an effort to keep more students together through elementary, middle and high school. Right now, 80{e4f787673fbda589a16c4acddca5ba6fa1cbf0bc0eb53f36e5f8309f6ee846cf} of students at one middle school might go to the same high school but another 20{e4f787673fbda589a16c4acddca5ba6fa1cbf0bc0eb53f36e5f8309f6ee846cf} are sent elsewhere.

“Students and families want to travel with peers to new schools,” Heath said.

The change in elementary school boundaries would help reduce overcrowding at certain schools and curtail the use of portables.

“We won’t make every school 450 students but we can keep within capacity of the school and allow us to make decisions on needs of students in programs and not where we have physical space,” Heath said.

The district plans to hold meetings in neighborhoods that would be impacted by any changes.

Despite pushing out changes to the 2023-2024 school year, Heath said it’s still going to be important to hit deadlines.

“We will come back to the board and share recommendations by fall of 2022,” he said. “We will need decisions by September or October of next year to implement changes for the following school year.”

Questions

People with questions for the Kent School District about the boundary changes can email [email protected].

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Beware social and emotional indoctrination in schools

Beware social and emotional indoctrination in schools

Social and emotional learning is the latest trend at your child’s school. SEL sounds beneficial, but that’s a disguise. In truth, it indoctrinates kids with extremist ideas many parents don’t condone.

On Nov. 22, the Hartford Courant reported that West Hartford, Conn., elementary school parents are in an uproar. They’re complaining that teachers are putting words such as “nonbinary” on the chalkboard and telling kids, including kindergarteners, they can live life as a gender different from what they were assigned at birth. Parents were told by school authorities that they can’t opt their children out.

Most Americans think parents should have the final say on what children are taught. From Treasure Valley, Idaho, to Greenwich, Conn., school board candidates made SEL an issue in elections earlier this month.

Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita encouraged parents to speak up and cautioned that SEL programs shift “the role of teachers from educators to therapists.”

Fighting SEL is an uphill battle because it’s not only favored by the left-leaning educational bureaucracy; it’s also big business. “The SEL ecosystem today is flush with dollars,” reports Tyton Partners, SEL industry consultants.

Billions in federal COVID-relief money for schools is being used to buy SEL programs and fund SEL instructors. Advocates and companies that produce the materials lobby Congress and the federal Department of Education to ensure legislative language precisely matches what they’re selling.

Nationwide, sales of SEL materials shot up 45{e4f787673fbda589a16c4acddca5ba6fa1cbf0bc0eb53f36e5f8309f6ee846cf} in a year and a half to $765 million in 2021, reports Education Week.

But parental opposition is also surging. Attorney General Merrick Garland asked the FBI to look into parents protesting issues like SEL at school board meetings. His son-in-law is a co-founder of Panorama Education, a company raking in millions selling SEL materials to school districts. Conflict of interest?

And what about the billions of dollars the Democrats’ Build Back Better legislation allocates to child care and pre-K? Will that money pay to indoctrinate even younger minds? Likely, “yes.” At least a dozen states, including New York, have already adopted SEL standards for preschool.

As for elementary schools, gender dysphoric kids make up less than 1{e4f787673fbda589a16c4acddca5ba6fa1cbf0bc0eb53f36e5f8309f6ee846cf} of the school population. Protect them, of course, from bullying and discrimination. They need to feel safe. But don’t brainwash the rest with one-sided, repeated lessons about gender issues.

West Hartford is reported to hammer away grade after grade, starting with a kindergarten-level book about a teddy bear who knows in his heart he is a girl teddy, not a boy teddy. Then, a book about Aiden, who knows the sex he was assigned at birth is “wrong.” Then, a book about choosing pronouns. And another about a girl named Jazz, who changes her gender identity. Are kids reading that many books about the U.S. Constitution?

One Arkansas father objected that his fifth grader’s teacher showed a video of a transgender activist’s speech. Then, the teacher, wearing a “Protect Trans Lives” T shirt, invited the class to a pride celebration: “I’ll be at Pride from 1 to 6! I hope to see you there!”

SEL was originally sold as training children to control their emotions, manage their time and make good personal decisions. Teachers have always tried to instill these life skills. They’re the same American values Benjamin Franklin proselytized in his autobiography 200 years ago.

But recently, SEL purveyors, including the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning, have openly revised their goals. CASEL advocates for “transformative SEL” to promote “justice-oriented civic engagement.” Translation: Make your kids into activists.

A South Bend, Ind., school district adopted SEL two years ago to curb substance abuse and bullying. Now, parents, recognizing the radical messaging, are demanding more oversight.

Who’s in charge of what your child learns? Parents need to take control. It’s not an easy fight against the combined forces of educational profiteers and left-wing activists. But the stakes are too high to accept defeat.

Betsy McCaughey is a former lieutenant governor of New York and author of “The Next Pandemic.”

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Homeschooling surges among black families

Homeschooling surges among black families

Raegan Mayfield’s 11-year-old son was doing well in his Christian private school, but Mayfield and her husband felt there were gaps in how his history classes addressed racial subjects. They supplemented his education at home, but then COVID-19 concerns and racial issues became front and center in spring 2020. “My husband and I became really protective of our son,” Mayfield said.

The couple, who live in Georgia and work from home, began looking into homeschooling options. “We wanted to keep the Biblically sound education but then also diversify his education a bit,” Mayfield said.

Finding Heritage Homeschoolers, a group for African American homeschoolers in the Atlanta area, gave Mayfield the encouragement she needed. She and her husband began homeschooling their son in fall 2021.

The COVID-19 pandemic drove an increase in homeschooling across all demographics, but the boost was particularly large among African American families. According to Census Bureau data, the percentage of black families educating children at home grew
fivefold in six months, from 3.3 percent in April 2020 to 16.1 percent in October 2020.

Steven Duvall, director of research at the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA), said that in previous years African American families homeschooled at about half the rate of white families. But more recent surveys show the black homeschooling rate is only a couple of percentage points behind that of white families. “It just shows you how diversified the homeschool movement has become,” Duvall said.

That shift began even before 2020. According to a 2015 report
by Brian Ray at the National Home Education Research Institute, the number of black homeschooling families “nearly doubled from 1999 to 2012.”

Amber O’Neal Johnston, who helped start the Heritage Homeschoolers group the Mayfields joined, said she has seen more black families involved since she started homeschooling about seven years ago, but the growth has exploded in the past two years. Heritage Homeschoolers opens registration to new families twice a year, in January and August, and in 2019 and early 2020, the group received fewer than 20 applications in each of those months. Since August 2020, though, 34 to 41 new families have applied each month registration is open.

Before starting Heritage Homeschoolers, Johnston and her husband were involved with another homeschool group. They enjoyed it, despite being the only black family there. But their daughter began to say negative things about her own skin and hair and stopped playing with her black dolls. “It’s not like anyone had been mean to her,” Johnston said. “It wasn’t like she had been somewhere where people were saying negative things about black people.”

The Johnstons never left their first homeschooling group, but they decided to look for other black homeschooling families. Soon Heritage Homeschoolers was born, and it kept growing. It now serves 94 families with 280 children.

In March 2020, Khadijah Ali-Coleman defended her doctoral dissertation on perceptions of community college preparedness among dual-enrolled African American homeschooling students. Ali-Coleman homeschooled her daughter for a while and co-founded Black Family Homeschool Educators and Scholars, a research group that provides virtual training for parents. In her research, Ali-Coleman identified several reasons black parents chose to homeschool, including concerns that schools aren’t properly teaching about black history and convictions that parents could better protect their child’s self-esteem at home.

Emily Powell, a representative for National Black Home Educators, said in an email that the organization has “seen incredible growth” this year. According to Powell, many new families are homeschooling due to COVID-19 restrictions, virtual learning situations, or concerns about schools teaching critical race theory.

Jasper and Deah Abbott prayed about their son’s education after his prekindergarten year ended with virtual learning in spring 2020. Deah said that four generations of her family have taught in public schools, but the Abbotts’ concerns about COVID-19 and virtual instruction convinced them to give homeschooling a try. They pulled their son out of public school in fall 2020, the weekend before he would have started kindergarten.

Deah is white and Jasper is black. In some homeschool circles, their son may be the only brown-skinned person. “He feels that—that otherness,” she said.

The family also joined Heritage Homeschoolers. Abbott thinks her son may benefit even more from the group than most children.

Johnston believes the uptick in homeschooling will continue, especially now that there are more support groups and options for single or working parents.

“Parents have had an opportunity to see their children just flourish at home,” she said. “When everyone was forced to bring the kids home, black families, in large numbers, saw how beautiful it was.”