Testimonials

A Safe Place to Grow

by Billy Mayhood

I had a miserable time in middle school. I was born without developed nerves and muscles in the right side of my face, so I had no movement on that side of my face. I had the first of five surgeries to transplant nerves and muscles into my face. The surgeries left my face very swollen, and it was easy for the other kids to notice-and make fun of-the difference. By seventh grade, the bullying became so bad that there were days I couldn't bear to go to school. By February of my seventh-grade year I decided that I needed to get out of that school.

As I started looking at other schools, one of my mother's friends, who works for Florida Virtual School (FLVS), told us to consider FLVS. She showed me a course she was teaching at the time and explained how taking courses would work. After talking with her I was set on FLVS.

I was happy to be able to move at my own pace. At school, when a student had a question in class the entire class had to stop and it slowed the learning down. I started in eighth grade and took biology, keyboarding, fitness, English, Algebra 1 and American History. Every course has a pace chart and every week there are a certain number of requirements to complete. Each week, I was usually finished with all of my course work by Thursday. If I wanted to-and I usually did-I could continue on ahead.

By Christmas of eighth grade, I was three months ahead in English; I finished that course during mid-April. IfI really want to have a long weekend, I can work extra hard during the week to finish early. You just don't have such opportunities in a traditional school. If you take time off from school to travel or something, you're penalized for it. I finished eighth grade in early spring and started some of my ninth-grade courses in July and the rest in August. I staggered my coursework this year.

I also like the fact that you can get second chances in FLVS. If you don't do that well, you have a chance to either retake a test or resubmit an assignment. I've taken tests where I didn't score as well as I would have liked and asked my teacher if I could review the work again and retake the test. The teacher reset the test, with different questions, and I was able to take it again. It helped my confidence and also assured me that I truly understood the material.

I have more of a one-on-one connection with my FLVS teachers. When I speak to them on the phone, it's just me and the teacher. And they really take the time to help. When I was having a few problems understanding an assignment on dividing polynomials in my Algebra II course, my teacher spent 90 minutes on the phone with me.

While I initially thought I wouldn't be interacting with other students, I'm actually talking to many students in my classes, and we have collaborated on projects. Last year, I worked with other students, by e-mail, on a biology project and another one for English 1. I still talk to them all the time. This year, in my English class we started a book club and there are about 200 of us in it. When we have discussions about a book I can go on to Illuminate [a web conferencing tool], select two or three people who are online and have real-time discussions with them about the book we're reading. It's good because you get to hear different perspectives on your work.

I have three more years with FLVS, and I'm excited about each one. FLVS saved me from a horrific experience and gave me a chance to stretch my academic muscles and discover a new and fun way to learn.