As the 2024–2025 school year comes to a close, GCSA is proud to continue our tradition of celebrating exceptional charter school graduates across Georgia. Each year, school leaders nominate seniors who have demonstrated academic excellence, leadership, and perseverance—and this year’s nominees are no exception. Meet the Class of 2025: a group of inspiring students whose hard work and determination are shaping a brighter future. Discover their stories, their goals, and how their charter school journeys have prepared them for what’s next.
Omolade Adeniyi
GCA’s Class of 2025 Valedictorian, Omolade Adeniyi, has always been an academic high achiever. While still in 5th grade, she received the Colella Award for Academic Achievement. She scored a 1420 on the SAT in only ninth grade, applied directly to the University of West Georgia for dual enrollment that summer, and has since amassed two years’ worth of college credits while maintaining a weighted GPA of 4.655. Taking a packed, rigorous courseload has also meant she is graduating from GCA a year early.
Omolade is a highly ambitious and motivated scholar who has been going to GCA since 7th grade. She was born in Massachusetts, but moved to Georgia in 2020, right before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. She started regularly writing during lockdown and has continued this hobby since. She’s participated in and won different rounds of the Young Georgia Author’s competition twice, received an Honorable Mention from the Georgia Laws of Life contest, and also enjoys writing recreationally, whether it be prose, scripts, or poetry.
Omolade also enjoys traveling and exploring different places, in-state, nationally, and internationally. She’s ridden horses in Chicago, posed with pyramids in Egypt, visited family back in Nigeria, and more. She loves spending time with her family, friends, and community, and is a volunteer with her local hospital, working in In-Patient and Women’s Services.
Omolade is sad to be leaving GCA, but excited to see where her hard work and dedication
takes her next!
Omolade applied for and was accepted to the University of West Georgia’s nursing program at the age of sixteen and will be starting classes this June to earn her Bachelor of Science in Nursing.
Kinsley Hill
Kinsley is our STAR Student and Valedictorian. She strives to always give more than 100% in all that she does. She is actively involved in many areas of our school and was one of the first graduates to complete our first every AP course at Pataula Charter Academy. She is a natural born leader and will no doubt accomplish great things in her life.
The small atmosphere has helped her grow and become confident in herself. Being able to build relationships with her teachers from K through Senior year has given her the support she needed to pursue success in school and in life.
Kinsley is a student at Pataula Charter Academy and plans to attend Georgia State University.
Jay Owens
Jay was selected as the winner of the 2025 Congressional Art Competition for Georgia’s Fourth Congressional District, with his artwork set to be displayed in the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. for one year. He also won the Run for the Arts T-shirt Design Contest at the Atlanta Dogwood Festival, received a Gold Key in the 2025 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards at the regional level, and was a semi-finalist for the Governor’s Honors Program in Visual Art last year. Additionally, he participated in the Columbus State University All-State Art Symposium, also last year.
Attending Georgia Connections Academy has provided Jay with a highly personalized, flexible learning environment that allowed them to fully pursue and develop their artistic talents. The school’s virtual model enabled Jay to balance rigorous academic coursework with the time and freedom to focus deeply on their art.
Jay is a student at Georgia Connections Academy and will be attending Pomona College as a Questbridge finalist/scholar with a full ride.
Leia Kolodzey
Our 2025 Salutatorian has attended Georgia Cyber Academy since Kindergarten. She has maintained the all-A honor roll and will graduate two years early at the age of 16. She has received recognition as a GHP 60 Math Finalist, Zell Miller Scholarship recipient, National Merit Scholarship Finalist, Georgia Certificate of Merit Scholar, 2024-25 Star Student, and was on the President’s List during her dual enrollment at Georgia State University.
Not only is she a Champion in the classroom, but outside as well. She has completely immersed herself in her heritage with frequent international travels to not only visit family but learn the culture. Her study abroad experiences in Taiwan with a NSLI-Y scholarship for a full immersion opened her horizons and understanding of different cultures tremendously. Besides English, she speaks two languages fluently and is learning two more. She has been volunteering about 30 hours per semester for three years at her local library, hoping to give back to her community. She plans on continuing to incorporate her passion for cultures with her major to see new perspectives at every point.
Leia is a student at Georgia Cyber Academy and plans on continuing on to Georgia Institute of Technology to major in Biochemistry where she hopes to continue her passion to learn.
