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. “I was hanging out with the wrong people, and just not motivated to go to school.” Looking for a way to finish high school online, Zach heard a radio ad for Provost Academy Georgia. It would allow him to do school work at home by taking online classes, and keep his job as a dishwasher at Denny’s.
After being wait-listed at two other online programs, (Georgia has a cap on virtual school enrollment) Zach was accepted at Provost Academy Georgia.
“Provost Academy has been great and I work hard online in my classes. My advisor is awesome! He’s open to whatever I need — I can call him anytime, anywhere, text message him, and he always responds. I work strictly at home, the Center is 45 minutes away, but I’ll take the ESOT’s there.
Zach has completed Fitness, American History, American Lit & Composition, Geometry, Computer Applications II, Sociology, Spanish 1A, and Economics.
“For me, virtual learning isn’t really any different than going to public school – 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’s about the only difference.”
But here’s the really big difference. Thanks to the online charter school program the whole direction of Zach’s life has changed. He applied to two colleges, and got in.
Based on his ACT’s, SAT’s 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’s a dream that could actually come true.
“I honestly believe if I wasn’t in school now I’d be in jail. Provost got me motivated, it let me see there’s something bigger out there. Education is everything. I will be first in my family to go to college. If my kids didn’t go to college, I’d tell them that education is essential.”
Talk about changing lives!
Georgia Charter Schools Association
The Georgia Charter Schools Association (GCSA) is the membership organization for Georgia’s 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.
