by Georgia Charter Schools Association
By Nina Rubin:
Just last week I interviewed Zachary Jones, a Provost Academy sophomore from Brunswick, GA, for a story about charter school waiting lists.
Zach is a young man with family problems who was, by his own admission, headed in the wrong direction. 鈥淚 was hanging out with the wrong people, and just not motivated to go to school.鈥� Looking for a way to finish high school online, Zach聽heard a radio ad for . It would allow him to do school work at home by taking online classes, and keep his job as a dishwasher at Denny鈥檚.
After being wait-listed at two other online programs, (Georgia has a cap on virtual school enrollment) Zach was accepted at Provost Academy Georgia.
鈥淧rovost Academy has been great and I work hard online in my classes. My advisor is awesome! He鈥檚 open to whatever I need — I can call him anytime, anywhere, text message him, and he always responds. 聽I work strictly at home, the Center is 45 minutes away, but I鈥檒l take the ESOT鈥檚 there.
Zach has completed Fitness, American History, American Lit & Composition, Geometry, Computer Applications II, Sociology, Spanish 1A, and Economics.
鈥淔or me, virtual learning isn鈥檛 really any different than going to public school 鈥� I sign in everyday, do my work, talk to our teachers, take tests. I can take a break for a couple of minutes, but that鈥檚 about the only difference.鈥�
But here鈥檚 the really big difference. Thanks to the online charter school program the whole direction of Zach鈥檚 life has changed. He applied to two colleges, and got in.
Based on his ACT鈥檚, SAT鈥檚 and high school grades to date, Zach got an acceptance letter last week for the University of Arkansas, to begin Fall 2016. He also got into Kennesaw State. Zach wants to major in agricultural science, and minor in business. His dream is to land a job in Australia and move there to work on land conservation efforts. With family members who live Down Under, it鈥檚 a dream that could actually come true.
鈥淚 honestly believe if I wasn鈥檛 in school now I鈥檇 be in jail. Provost got me motivated, it let me see there鈥檚 something bigger out there. Education is everything. I will be first in my family to go to college. If my kids didn鈥檛 go to college, I鈥檇 tell them that education is essential.鈥�
Talk about changing lives!
Georgia Charter Schools Association
The Georgia Charter Schools Association (91吃瓜) is the membership organization for Georgia鈥檚 charter school operators and petitioners, established in 2001. Our mission is to be an effective advocate and service provider for all charter public schools in Georgia.
