12th Annual Scholarship Program Awards $2,000 in Scholarships to Three High School Seniors
Boston — June 18, 2019—The Virtual High School (VHS, Inc.), a non-profit empowering schools with the industry’s most comprehensive supplemental online learning programs, today announced the winners of their 12th annual college scholarship program. Two thousand dollars in scholarship funds were awarded to three high school seniors in Connecticut and Massachusetts.
Graduating senior Emily Tan, from Lyme-Old Lyme High School in Old Lyme, Conn., won the $1,000 first place award from the VHS 2019 scholarship program with her original animated video. Two other high school seniors –– Kathryn Atkinson, also from Lyme-Old Lyme High School, and Catherine Holt of Watertown High School (Mass.) –– placed second and third, respectively, each winning $500 in scholarships for their original video submissions.
The three winners answered this year’s scholarship question “How has your VHS course changed the way you think about online learning? What surprised you?”and their unique submissions stood out to the judges.The scholarship review committee included VHS staff members who evaluated the submissions based on their content, quality, creativity, and relevance.
“This year’s scholarship entries really highlighted how personal and unique the VHS experience is for each student that takes a VHS online high school course,” said Carol Ribeiro, President & CEO of VHS. “One thing most students had in common was the shared sense of community they felt while taking their VHS courses, even though taking an online course may have initially seemed difficult. We are pleased that VHS offers such a welcoming and collaborative community where students are able, with the assistance of their teachers, to learn challenging subjects alongside their classmates from around the world.”
First place winner Emily Tan learned to use Scratch in her AP®Computer Scienceclass and used the programming language to animate an original video of a pink triceratops for her VHS scholarship program submission. In the video, Tan explained how VHS changed her perception of online learning through the unexpected community and kindness she received from her fellow classmates. She also said that the workload surprised her and was ultimately manageable, although she was initially not confident in her time management skills.
In second place, Kathryn Atkinson created an original video she narrated using American Sign Language (ASL) she learned in the VHS course of the same name. Atkinson said that she was surprised to find how smoothly she learned a new language through an online course, especially a visual language that required face-to-face communication.
The third-place winner, Catherine Holt of Watertown High School in Massachusetts, made an original video about her experience in AP®Music Theory and composed and performed her own original soundtrack to accompany the video. Holt said that music is better when you have a community to share and create with, and she was surprised and encouraged by the community she found online in her VHS course.
For the last 23 years, VHS has provided middle and high school students with access to high-quality supplemental online and blended learning experiences while supporting educators with the professional development and services they need to provide effective education for every student. Schools that partner with VHS have access to a wide range of over 200 core, elective, credit recovery and AP® courses that inspire, ignite and deepen learning. VHS helps students develop independent learning skills, prepare for college and careers, earn credit, and engage with their peers in global classrooms.
For more information, visit www.VHSLearning.orgor call (978) 897-1900.
About The Virtual High School (VHS, Inc.)
The Virtual High School (VHS, Inc.) is an online learning pioneer. Since 1996, the nonprofit organization has set the standard for quality online education. VHS provides courses taught in global online classrooms for secondary school students and online professional development for educators. The organization also meets the unique educational needs of schools through custom course development and individualized course offerings. VHS design and delivery standards are the model used by the National Education Association in their recommended standards for online learning. The organization has won numerous awards, including the Stockholm Challenge Award for Global Excellence in Information Technology, and is a three-time winner of the United States Distance Learning Association’s (USDLA) award for Excellence in Programming and Excellence in Best Practices.
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