IN Fox Chapel Area Spring 2018 | Page 12

The Fox Chapel Area High School first graduating Class of 2018. “I’m a dancer and I do Point Park College’s Lead Principal Michael Hower personally pre-professional congratulated each early graduate as part of the ceremony. high school program,” Katy said, explaining that doing FCAO allowed her to dance, while focusing on school at the same time. It’s a program that has her dancing and training for long periods each afternoon. She said she dedicated the first three to four hours every morning to completing her online schoolwork. If she needed extra time, she would work on the weekends or on the way to dance competitions. Katy praises Fox Chapel Area’s online program. “I liked my classes a lot,” she said on her graduation day. “In the FC online program, you have actual teachers you can contact. They help you a lot to make sure you succeed, even though you aren’t coming to school every day. You can also customize how you want to learn, which was really nice.” According to Randi Leonard, Fox Chapel Area’s online learning coordinator, Katy made the most of her cyber experience. “She was able to put her energy into achieving her goals of becoming a professional and competitive ballroom dancer while excelling in her online courses. Katy took the time to establish a rapport with her course instructors, meet with teachers and tutors face-to-face as needed, and participate in school events.” Katy said that with other online programs she might have spent a lot of time on her own, teaching herself the concepts with little to no contact with actual teachers. She liked that FCAO offered a completely different experience. She specifically mentioned taking chemistry and how the