Katelynn Carpenter
“The online classes allowed me to repeat lessons that I was not understanding until I mastered the concepts. It took me longer at first, but then math started making sense to me.”
– Katelynn Carpenter
I attended an online charter school, Ohio Virtual Academy (OHVA), from Kindergarten to 12th grade. Attending OHVA helped bridge a learning gap in math because the online courses helped me learn at my own pace. As an elementary student, I had academic struggles learning math concepts related to multiplication and division. The online classes allowed me to repeat lessons that I was not understanding until I mastered the concepts. It took me longer at first, but then math started making sense to me.
By 8th grade, I was ahead in my class work and started taking high school classes online in Algebra, English, and Physical Science. Once again, the online school allowed me to progress at my own pace and I started to excel in my classes. OHVA taught me self-discipline, independence, and self-motivation. The online school also taught me many practical life lessons, such as how to manage my time wisely, how to work hard even with simple tasks, how to be creative, how to study for exams, how to work in groups and independently, and how to engage during classes and with other people. I learned how to set a time schedule and stick to it to get work in on time. This discipline allowed me to engage in activities at my local recreation center while other kids were still in school. I discovered a love for art and Graphic Design through a combination of art classes at my local recreation center and Digital Arts classes at OHVA.
“Online classes have transformed me into an excellent, lifelong learner.”
OHVA also prepared me for college. As a senior, I took six classes at Columbus State Community College through the College Credit Plus Program. In my classes, I noticed that other students were having difficulty understanding simple concepts that I had learned early on in OHVA. OHVA has prepared me so well that I scored 100% on the departmental cumulative final exam for College Algebra, the highest score by any student in my professor’s 26 years of teaching.