High School News

I woke up to my little brother singing Happy Birthday and jumping on my bed. Today was the day. Not only was I turning 18, but it was also the day of my graduation and my valedictorian speech. Officially an adult and high school grad all in one day – could it get any better?

The day continued and at 2:00 I headed over to Northwest Nazarene University for the graduation rehearsal. We practiced how to enter, go on stage, and exit. Afterwards, we were given our caps, ironed gowns, honor cords, and medals to change into later that night. At 5:00, I headed back to the college with my parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and a couple of friends. This was the real thing! As “Pomp and Circumstance” began to play, our class of graduates proudly walked into the auditorium. As I was making my way down the aisle however, my medal came off of the ribbon and started to roll away! I had to hurry and grab it and keep walking — very embarrassing. But hey, what is a graduation ceremony without a little problem?

We made it to our seats and I quickly handed the detached medal and ribbon to my uncle so he could put it back together and then continued on to the stage alongside two of my best friends. Before I knew it, it was time for my speech! For some reason, I wasn’t nervous. I was excited to be speaking in front of my classmate — which was weird in a way because this was the first time I had ever met most of them. I gave my speech and, personally, I think I did a pretty good job.

After the speeches it was time to receive our diplomas. I proudly walked the stage again. We changed the tassels on our caps from the right to the left and became official high school graduates.

This day was one of the best days of my life. My education through the Idaho Virtual Academy was real and amazing and I know that I am prepared for college this coming fall. I didn’t have to miss out on any of the opportunities given at a regular brick-and-mortar school. I had my friends, my great teachers, my school dances, and finally, my official high school graduation. I couldn’t have chosen a better school.

Rachel Munson is a proud 2011 graduate of Idaho Virtual Academy and will be heading off to college this fall. She has joined our team as a summer intern, sharing her insight and experience as an online education student. 

Resources

• thinktanK¹² Blog: Graduating from an Online High School
• K¹².com: K¹² High School
• facebook: K¹² High School Experience

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama — Seeking to avoid punitive steps by its accrediting agency, Alabama A&M University on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against the Alabama A&M Research Institute.

Carrying a months-long dispute between the school and the institute to court was expected after the executive committee of the Alabama A&M board of trustees on Monday gave final approval to its attorneys.

The 47-page complaint, filed in Madison County Circuit Court by Rod Steakley, attorney for the Alabama A&M board of trustees, and Huntsville lawyer Bill Lunsford, asks for the series of revisions to the institute board over the past year to be undone and to return the institute board to the form it took after a 2001 amendment.

Plaintiffs of the suit are the board of trustees, university President Dr. Andrew Hugine, Provost Dr. Daniel Wims as interim vice president for institutional research and sponsored programs, trustee Andre Taylor as chair of the board’s research and development committee and Odysseus Lanier, president pro tem of the board.

“We have tried to negotiate; we have tried to resolve this without going to court,” Hugine said in a statement.

The suit names the AAMU Research Institute as the only defendant, not identifying any individuals.

“The relief we have sought relates to control of the research institute, and that’s the foundation of our lawsuit,” Steakley said. “It’s a straightforward issue. We don’t want to gain relief from individuals.”

The heart of the lawsuit focuses on the series of changes on the institute board that Alabama A&M contends has wrested control of the institute away from university. That’s a violation of the original agreement when the institute was created in 1999 to be a contracting arm of Alabama A&M.

“(The institute’s) attempt to divest control of the (institute) from the board of trustees has damaged the university by subjecting the university to an investigation by SACS and potentially jeopardizing the university’s SACS accreditation,” the lawsuit states.

Alabama A&M had no problem with the research institute until a series of meetings starting in July 2010 led to the lawsuit. By January 2011, the institute’s board had grown from five members to 11 and tilted control away from the university.

Those meetings were illegal, the lawsuit claims, which makes the additions to the institute board illegal.

The suit describes a “scheme and conspiracy was conceived” to shift control from the university to the institute.

The suit alleges that Shefton Riggins, formerly the president pro tem of the university’s board of trustees, and Tom Bell, a current member of the trustees, “acted in concert with others to secure their own personal involvement as members of the (institute board).”

According to the suit, Riggins feared losing his seat on the institute board – originally gained because he was president pro tem of the trustees – because his term had expired on the university board of trustees. Bell feared losing his seat on the institute board because he could have been replaced as chair of the trustees’ research and development committee.

Bell was eventually replaced by Taylor when Lanier became board president pro tem in October 2010.

Bell declined to comment about the allegations Tuesday. Riggins did not return a message left on his cell phone.

Joanne Mabbott, who directed Portland Public Schools’ troubled special education program for two and a half years before being diverted to other work in the school district, has accepted a similar job in Hermiston.

According to the Hermiston Herald, Mabbott was selected from a large pool of applicants to become director of special programs for that 5,000-student school district.

Portland has had frequent turnover in its special education director’s position, currently held by Mabbott’s former assistant director, Jennifer Jackson, on an interim basis. District leaders have said they plan to name a permanent director this summer.

During the past school year, Mabbott agreed mid-year to step aside from the director’s position to accept an interim principalship at Maplewood Elementary for the rest of the year.

Before Mabbott took the district’s top special education job, the position was held for nearly three years by Mary Mertz, who was selected by former Superintendent Vicki Phillips and was unpopular with many special education parents. Under Superintendent Carole Smith, Mertz left to work for online Insight Schools; Mertz was hired last month to head special programs in Reynold school district.

Prior to Mertz, Portland’s special education department was headed for two years by Michael Remus, who pushed hard for special education students to be placed in regular schools and mainstreamed into regular classrooms.

Portland’s special education system has been subjected to frequent changes.

Chief Academic Officer Carla Randall and Jackson, the interim special ed director, recently told the school board that special education students in Portland are being shortchanged.

ELMORE COUNTY, Alabama — The Elmore County Board of Education voted Monday night to give suspended students a second chance to make up schoolwork for their first offense each school year, reports the Wetumpka Herald today.

Prior to the Monday vote, students were not allowed to make up work missed while suspended under any circumstance, says the report.

The  pardon only applies to first-time offenders. Each additional offense will require students to receive zero credit on days missed while carrying out their punishment.