How CCA Succeeded Where Public School Failed

 

For a long time at Williams Valley, I felt completely stuck.

There wasn't just one problem; there were several. During COVID, and after schools shut down, switching to the online option for Williams Valley didn't change the "stuck" feeling. For the last few years at that school, I was bullied both in school and online by students in the same grade, and some even older than me. Even though the bullying was obvious, the school never did anything about it. I can probably only count five teachers from my entire time there who actually cared and made an impact. None of them even work there anymore. They all moved on, probably because they realized the system is terrible.

The learning itself was a complete joke. We were relearning a lot of the same subjects every year - I can't even tell you how many times we went over the same units on Native Americans without ever really moving forward. In science class, for one year, we'd just sit there and watch Bill Nye (who isn't even a real scientist) instead of actually learning anything. The math problems were so over-complicated for no reason, and if you found a method that actually works for you, most teachers wouldn't let you use it.

The reason I'm writing this now is that public schools are trying to get rid of CCA and other online schools. They are actively pushing to cut the funding that lets schools like CCA exist.

Switching to CCA changed everything. I went from report cards with a mix of A's, B's, and C's to graduating with straight A's and honors.

Throughout my few years with CCA, I have learned so much more than I ever did at Williams Valley. I had several options for classes, such as:

• Journalism
• Astronomy
• Photography
• Psychology
• Anatomy and Physiology
• Marine Biology
• Criminal Justice
• Gothic Literature

There were even more options for language classes than just Spanish and French. For the first time, I actually enjoyed learning - even math made sense to me for once! I had incredible teachers, some of whom I’m still in contact with today.

Most importantly, the Journalism class at CCA is the reason this blog exists. It's the reason I chose a different career path and followed my dream of being a writer.

CCA gave me the chance to get to where I am now, something that most likely wouldn't have happened with Williams Valley. Because of the education I got there, I was accepted to almost every college I applied to. Now, I'm a Penn State student.

When people are talking about cutting the funding for online schools, they're talking about getting rid of the programs that gave me a future. I'm living proof that CCA succeeded where the public system failed, and it's a choice every student deserves to have.