Agora Cyber Charter School last month celebrated its high school graduates, and two local grads have plenty of reasons to celebrate.
Parkwood’s Elizabeth Martinez and Holmesburg’s Aidan Chamberlin both overcame obstacles to not only graduate from Agora, but put themselves on a path to be successful college students.
Elizabeth, 17, started kindergarten at a public school in Hunting Park, but left after a half-year of bullying and enrolled at Agora. Since then, two of Elizabeth’s older sisters graduated from Agora and a younger sister remains enrolled there.
“I loved it,” Elizabeth said. “I’m very grateful that our parents switched us.”
At Agora, Elizabeth was an honor roll student who earned straight A’s and served as secretary of the school’s National Honor Society chapter. She was the student adviser for the poetry club, led the Bible club and had poems published in the school newspaper.
Elizabeth credits counselor Amy Shea with helping her graduate a year early by accumulating enough credits and building a schedule that worked for her. Specifically, she woke up early to do some work, took live classes with other students and worked in the afternoon at the coffee shop at Calvary Chapel.
Elizabeth is grateful for that flexibility and the hands-on nature of the teachers. She was inspired by her two sisters to be able to graduate a year early and thankful that the Agora staff made sure that working ahead was the best path for her.
Elizabeth was accepted by both Liberty and Cairn Universities, and decided to enroll in the online creative writing program at Liberty. She starts Aug. 19.
“It’s a great school. I love writing, and I think it will be a really good experience,” she said. “I’m very much looking forward to it.”
Elizabeth took a creative writing class at Agora that sparked her interest. She wrote short stories for class and plans a novel. Ultimately, she wants to be a playwright, working on Broadway, and a screenwriter and maybe a teacher.
Elizabeth said it was Agora that helped her plan out all her steps along the way and even make sure she had a backup plan.
“They prepared me in so many ways and got me ready for after high school and what comes next,” she said.
As for Aidan, who turned 18 on July 18, he was the winner of the annual Karol Canfield Award – named in memory of an Agora co-founder – which goes to an exceptional college-bound special education student.
Aidan was a preemie, is partially deaf and has Asperger syndrome, though he is high functioning. He spent several unproductive years in a local public school and a few months in an area Catholic school before enrolling at Agora when he was in fourth grade.
“The instant he started Agora, it was fantastic. He took right to it, like a fish to water,” said Patricia Chamberlin, his mom, adding that Agora shuts down bullying immediately.
Aidan certainly came a long way from fourth grade to 12th grade. His mom called it “night and day.” He was accepted into and received a scholarship from his top choice, Rochester Institute of Technology.
“It’s not easy to get into RIT,” Patricia said. “We’re proud of him.”
Right now, Aidan is at RIT for a six-week summer transition program for students deaf and hard of hearing, getting him used to campus without other stimuli. He’ll have another two-week transition program next month before starting classes in late August.
While taking classes at Agora, Aidan wore headphones, which allowed him to focus better. He was able to take all kinds of classes – music, art, history, sociology, Spanish and other foreign languages, computer game and design – some of which wouldn’t have been available to him at a brick-and-mortar school. He took extra history classes because the game Assassin’s Creed is a historical action-adventure video game series. He also took digital art and Latin and French to study languages used in video games.
Patricia said the gaming classes served as a motivator for Aidan. At RIT, he will earn an associate’s degree after two years, which would give him the ability to design for phones and tablets. If he maintains a B average, he’ll study for another two years to earn a bachelor’s degree and the skills to design for video systems such as Xbox and PlayStation.
Outside the virtual classroom, Aidan went to three proms and does online gaming with Agora friends across the state. He benefited from Agora’s family coach and took part in Agora Days Out to places such as the Philadelphia Zoo, a Phillies game and Applefest at Fox Chase Farm.
“He was able to meet some of his classmates and do different things,” his mom said.
Patricia describes her son as a quick learner who cooks, does his own laundry and takes SEPTA, and she is confident he will flourish at a college six hours from home.
“I really believe he can do it,” she said. ••
