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April 06, 2006
Academic Successes
William Finch Charter School won the Academic Decathlon this year in Glenn County. This was a first for the small charter school and even more amazing because it's a home/independent study program. Now there are some of you who will insist that those schools are just so kids don't have to go to school and they "give grades" away. I've heard that from a number of folks.
Well, maybe some places are. Our program has never looked at itself as a place for students to come and mark time. In fact those who try that find themselves looking for another school to go to. Studying on your own without benefit of other classmates is not an easy road, and many, both parents and students, drop off because it isn't as easy as they've been lead to believe.
So, as can be seen this year, the home schooled students decided to take this on. They've been building a team and an approach to this event for the last few years. This year all their hard work paid off. They won, but once they won they were faced with a trip to Los Angeles to face the rest of the state.
Six of the seven students had never been on a plane before. The boys needed sports coats to wear for the competition. They didn't have enough money for airfare for everyone.
Two businesses stepped up and donated funds to help. Coats were found and nervousness over plane rides disappeared as they began to realize the differences between LA and Glenn County. Why worry about planes when there were freeways to navigate, competition to deal with, and, well, Disneyland. Wow.
Now they have completed their travels. They have competed. They have had experiences they had never dreamed of before. Teddy Rodriquez won a gold medal for music. Congratulations Teddy. The whole team had a great time.
What an experience! What fun memories. What an esteem builder for a small group of kids from a home/independent study charter school. That's what I call an education. That's what I call learning in all its various forms.
Posted by Dr Joni at April 6, 2006 06:26 AM