Student Achievements
Announcing our 2017 Photo Contest Winners
By Florida Virtual School on November 16th, 2017
For the last several years, FLVS has hosted photo contests allowing students to share their success stories and what it’s like to be an online student. This school year, we put a new twist on the contest as FLVS celebrates 20 years of innovative student learning. Continue reading
Meet FLVS Student Ben Krieger
By Guest Blogger on May 16th, 2017
South Florida resident and FLVS student Ben Krieger (age 12) is now in the final stretch of his two-year professional run as a traveling actor in national Broadway tours.
Ben currently plays the roles of Peter Llewelyn Davies and George Llewelyn Davies in Finding Neverland, showing in major Florida cities in May and June this year. Ben accepted his first job with Pippin the Musical on June 25, 2015 and will take his final bow exactly two years later on June 25, 2017 at The Broward Center for Performing Arts with Finding Neverland. In between, he also toured with The Sound of Music.
Ben has performed in approximately 250 shows for more than 500,000 people in 38 cities across the U.S. He also performed in Japan for three weeks and Amsterdam for a month. Ben traveled for a total of 80 weeks in the past two years.
In the following Q&A, Ben and his mom share more about his experience and how FLVS helps Ben take his studies on the road while traveling on tour! Continue reading
Aliens and Explosions
By Guest Blogger on March 30th, 2017
This post was written by FLVS student Sarah Weyand about her award-winning research in astrophysics.
My science fair journey began about a year ago.
I was approached by a Harvard graduate who wanted to mentor a high school senior in an astrophysics and computer science research project.
I knew nothing about astronomy and I didn’t know a single programming language, but I love space and I plan to major in computer science in college. Naturally, I said yes. This project has taken me to the Science Talent Search, the Indian River Regional Science and Engineering Fair, and, now, the State Science Fair.
My project is titled Aliens and Explosions: How Supernovae Affect the Habitable Zones of Exoplanets.
The purpose of the project is to calculate the percentage of exoplanets, a planet that does not orbit our Sun, that would no longer be in the habitable zone of their host star due to a supernova, the explosive death of a massive star. Continue reading
Meet FLVS Student Olivia McComb
By Guest Blogger on February 9th, 2017
This article was originally written and published in the FLVS student newspaper, News in a Click.
For FLVS student Olivia McComb, music is her life.
As a classic rock musician based in Sarasota, Florida, the 15-year-old has been singing “ever since she could talk.” Olivia has performed live at multiple venues singing both classic rock and 90’s music.
She says, “I entertained the idea of being a singer for many years, but when I was 11, I started taking the idea seriously and at 13 I started training my voice to sing professionally.”
A teen of many talents, Olivia primarily plays seven instruments: guitar, piano, drums and cajon, bass, ukulele and tambourine.
In addition, she enjoys writing her own songs and lyrics. “Playing around with progressions on guitar and piano is extremely fun.” Continue reading
Meet our 2016 Photo Contest Winners
By Florida Virtual School on October 10th, 2016
Over the last several weeks, FLVS students have been sharing what makes them unique in our fall photo contest on social media.
Using Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook, participants were asked to submit a photo showing what makes them one-of-a-kind using #IAMFLVS.
It was truly inspiring to see so many entries (including many of our new elementary students!) and hear all of your stories. We also enjoyed following the journey of several students who participated in our contest in years past!
We loved hearing how the flexibility of FLVS allows you to be yourself and follow your dreams.
As we have in previous contests, three winners were selected…one at random, one by our judges, and one by popular vote.
And now, we’re excited to present them to you!
The Best Day of My Life
By Guest Blogger on October 3rd, 2016
This is the third post in a series by former FLVS student Makaila, a model, author, and anti-bullying advocate.
Today will go down as one of the best days of my life.
On this very day, my pride and joy officially comes into the world, which just so happens to be a book, my first book:
Blatantly Honest: Normal Teen Abnormal Life
Below you will find a short snippit on a topic that may have touched you in your life.
I can promise that the rest of the book will have content just like this, so please enjoy a selection from chapter one. Continue reading
FLVS Student Pursues her Passion for Animals
By Guest Blogger on September 13th, 2016
This post was written by tenth grade high school student Madison Toonder. Read about Maddie’s oyster research in a previous blog post here.
In October 2015, I was awarded a scholarship to attend any pre-collegiate program of my choice for winning second place in the nation in STEM mathematics at the Broadcom MASTERS national science fair competition in San Francisco, California.
I chose the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University’s two-week summer intensive in Massachusetts because it is directly related to my career path.
Tufts’ program is designed to give high school students insight into the rigors of veterinary school. During the program, we attended lectures, studied animal anatomy through fascinating dissections and hands-on palpitations, completed hospital rounds with fourth-year veterinary students, and explored the many different possible career paths within veterinary medicine. My daily agenda was varied and included activities such as learning proper techniques for handling animals, observing surgical procedures, and learning how to perform routine check-ups on a variety of different animals. One of my favorite activities was suturing bananas to practice proper technique. Continue reading
Cooney World Adventures Blog Series
By Guest Blogger on July 19th, 2016
If you’ve ever dreamed of traveling the world, it may not be as complicated as you think.
In 2008, Mike Cooney traveled the world with his wife, Catrell, and three teenage sons, Morgan, Zach, and Harrison, who studied online with FLVS. After selling their home, downsizing, and packing up their belongings, the family traveled across six continents and 22 countries…more than 61,000 miles! Today, Mike shares their experiences at speaking events and talks about his book which details their adventures. As Mike likes to say, “If we can do it, anyone can!”
In a year-long blog series on The Virtual Voice, Morgan, Zach, and Harrison and their parents shared their experience: Continue reading
A Life-Changing Experience
By Guest Blogger on April 20th, 2016
This is the final post in a series by the Cooney family about their world travels, made possible by the flexible learning offered at FLVS.
For the past 12 months, my family and I have been recounting our trek around the world and sharing what it meant to each of us.
Although it’s been nearly seven years since we returned in September 2009, there is not a day that goes by we don’t think about what the trek meant to us individually and collectively. Needless to say, it was a life-changing experience for each of us. My wife Catrell and I set several goals before leaving on our trek and they were all met. Continue reading
A Narrow Piece of Geography
By Guest Blogger on March 16th, 2016
This is the 11th post in a series by the Cooney family about their world travels, made possible by the flexible learning offered at FLVS.
Our around the world trek was accomplished in two stages.
The first lasted four months and we backpacked through Central and South America. After returning home for a short visit, we resumed our trek, which lasted seven months. During our odyssey, we traveled to six continents, visited 22 countries and covered more than 61,000 miles. Although we did circumnavigate the globe, the fact is we only traveled a narrow piece of geography.
No matter how well-traveled someone is, they tend to stay within the lines – back roads, hiking trails, plane routes and highways. We were no different. Through Central and South America, we traveled almost entirely by bus – from “chicken buses” packed with 30 people when there should have only been 15, to a luxury motor coach that had its equivalent of a flight attendant onboard. Continue reading