Goals
Maintaining a Healthy Lifestyle While Traveling
By Guest Blogger on December 9th, 2015
This is the eighth post in a series by the Cooney family about their world travels, made possible by the flexible learning offered at FLVS.
Whether you are planning a “stay-cation” or a global yearlong adventure around the world similar to ours, staying healthy, happy, and fit while traveling can present a few obstacles.
Maintaining healthy eating habits at home can be difficult and doing the same on the road requires even more due-diligence. Preplanning is the key, and can mean the difference between completely abandoning your healthy lifestyle or keeping you on track.
Incorporate some or all the following tips we’ve used to ensure you have a healthy, happy trip.
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Travel is the Ultimate Education
By Guest Blogger on November 16th, 2015
This is the seventh post in a series by the Cooney family about their world travels, made possible by the flexible learning offered at FLVS.
Recently, friends of ours withdrew their nine-year old daughter from school to take her with them to Washington, D.C. and Iceland.
They planned to tour the nation’s capital before leaving for Iceland for the family’s first trip abroad. To do so, Jennifer (not her real name), would miss approximately a week of school. Jennifer’s mom contacted the school well in advance and completed the necessary paperwork to request an excused absence. She outlined in detail all that Jennifer would experience and see during the trip.
However, the school principal did not respond and after repeated calls asking for an update, it was time to leave. Continue reading
Student Researches Sunscreen’s Effects on Oysters
By Guest Blogger on October 28th, 2015
Hi! I’m Madison, a student at FLVS.
While attending a Busch Gardens camp in the summer of 2014, I learned that the park utilizes oysters to naturally filter their lakes. I soon became fascinated with oysters, and after some research, I discovered oysters are dying globally due to pollution.
After this discovery, I formulated an experiment focusing on the effect of micronized chemical sunscreen (as used in spray sunscreen) and nanosized zinc oxide sunblock (as found in thicker, clear sunblock) on the ability of a bivalve mollusk (or oyster) to filter bay water. Continue reading
What Travel Has Meant to My Career
By Guest Blogger on October 12th, 2015
This is the sixth post in a series by the Cooney family about their world travels, made possible by the flexible learning offered at FLVS.
Traveling has been such an amazing opportunity for me in so many ways.
It’s taught me more than I ever could have learned from solely reading books. It’s showed me how to relate with people and find ways to communicate with others, even if we don’t speak the same language. You begin to realize deep down we’re not all that different.
Traveling has been an extremely liberating experience, though it wasn’t always easy. It pushes you and constantly forces you out of your comfort zone. Early on I had to find a way to be able to continue school while traveling. FLVS was such a great way to be able to do that. There were times when I was in the middle of the jungle in Central America, monkeys were swinging above my head and I was still able to take a test online. Continue reading
Congrats to our 2015 Photo Contest Winners
By Florida Virtual School on September 26th, 2015
This year, we saw all kinds of inspiring and amazing student stories in our fall photo contest.
Over the last two months, students have been sharing images on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook showing how they have succeeded with the help of Florida Virtual School. In the photo caption, students were asked to explain how FLVS has allowed them to do great things using the hashtag #SuccessAtFLVS.
Three winners were chosen – one at random, one by popular vote, and one selected by FLVS judges. We received images from hospitalized and homebound students, students entering the ROTC, community service volunteers, musicians, artists, athletes, and aspiring entrepreneurs – all of which made us wish we could have chosen more of you!
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Meet FLVS Student Zac
By Guest Blogger on September 11th, 2015
Meet Florida Virtual School student Zac Pullam.
Zac has been with FLVS since the summer of 2014. He is a homeschool student, although he takes a pretty full load of classes with FLVS.
In January of 2013, Zachary and I (his mom) headed out to Hollywood for him to pursue his dream of becoming an actor – a decision his dad and I made together. We had the support of our community and his teachers, as well as his principal.
We withdrew him from his current elementary school in Tallahassee and began to homeschool him while in CA. We were there through June, then returned home to Florida for a few weeks. Continue reading
Never Stop Exploring
By Guest Blogger on September 4th, 2015
This is the fifth post in a series by the Cooney family about their world travels, made possible by the flexible learning offered at FLVS.
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain
In Margret Mitchell’s novel, “Gone with the Wind,” Gerald O’Hara states that, “Land is the only thing in the world worth working for, worth fighting for, worth dying for, because it’s the only thing that lasts.” While I agree that the preservation of natural places is one of the most important goals, Mitchell’s character is only partly right, in that there are other things in life worth the effort as well. There are non-material events and knowledge, which are incommensurable. Continue reading
Meet FLVS Student Kayla
By Guest Blogger on August 14th, 2015
Kayla loved school.
She loved her teachers.
She loved her friends.
However, she really struggled with staying focused and was morally disappointed by the various distractions at her public school. She wanted to do more, see more, accomplish more – and she did.
Kayla researched Florida Virtual School, made phone calls, and spoke with her Dad and I about doing FLVS from home for her junior year of high school. Continue reading
5 Ways to Stay Safe While Traveling the World
By Guest Blogger on August 5th, 2015
This is the fourth post in a series by the Cooney family about their world travels, made possible by the flexible learning offered at FLVS.
Travel Safety Awareness Month is the perfect time to address one of the questions we were often asked before leaving on an around-the-world trek.
“Aren’t you afraid to travel to other countries with your family?”
As we all know, there is risk in nearly everything we do. Whether taking a shower, driving to work, walking across the street, shopping at the grocery store, going to the movie theater, or skydiving, there is inherent risk in everything we do. If you don’t think so, just count the number of attorney ads on TV, radio, and social media. Even after our trek, the question of safety continues to be asked when I give talks about our adventure.
Making the Journey the Destination
By Guest Blogger on July 14th, 2015
This is the third post in a series by the Cooney family about their world travels, made possible by the flexible learning offered at FLVS.
“There once was a man who became unstuck in the world. He realized that he was not his car, he realized that he was not his job, he was not his phone, his desk or his shoes. Like a boat cut from its anchor, he’d begin to drift. He took the wind for a map, he took the sky for a clock, and he set off with no destination. He was never lost.” – Castles in the Sky
Seeing the world will change your life.
There is simply no way around it. Once you take the first step in your journey to understand a new culture, learn a different language, climb a higher mountain, or sail across a deeper sea, you will never be the same. Continue reading