5 Things You Didn’t Know Existed at PA Distance
There are plenty of myths or misconceptions about cyber schools. In fact, we have a whole post on it. However, one of the biggest misconceptions is that there is nothing for a student to do outside of their schoolwork. This couldn’t be further from the truth.
All cyber schools are different, but here at PA Distance Learning Charter School, we have all sorts of ways that we increase student to student engagement outside of our virtual classrooms. Whether it be through a field trip, a club activity, assembly, pep rally, end of the year trip, or our in-person graduations, there is something to do for all of our students throughout the year.
Field Trips
It’s no secret that our students don’t go to a physical location each day. They interact with each other through video and Google Hangouts throughout the school day. However, our students oftentimes meet in person more than once throughout their time at PA Distance Learning. One of the most common ways they meet is while on a school sponsored field trip.
The field trip committee at PA Distance Learning organizes dozens of field trips across the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Below are just a few students experienced from the past few years:
- Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins Hockey Game
- Tour of Fallingwater - Frank Lloyd Wright House
- Guided Tour of Historical Gettysburg, PA
- Skate Park
- Pittsburgh Zoo
- Bowling
- Historic Philadelphia, PA
- Valley Forge National Park
- Weather Discovery Center
- Grocery Stores across PA
- 2020 PA Farm Show (upcoming in January!)
- Lackawanna, PA Coal Mine
- And much more!
Club Activities
PA Distance Learning, much like brick and mortar schools, offers many clubs for students to engage in outside of the classroom. Clubs are a great way for students to spend time with each other and more importantly, collaborate on greater projects. Below are just a few of the clubs PA Distance Learning has:
- Art Club
- Student Government
- Yearbook Club
- And much more!
Assemblies and Pep Rallies
PA Distance Learning has many assemblies and pep rallies throughout the year. We often bring in professionals from numerous industries to speak to our students through a video conference. Just this year we’ve had speakers from a local dentist office, a National Geographic Explorer and an engineer!
In addition to our assemblies, we also host pep rallies during the testing seasons to encourage our students ahead of PSSA and Keystone testing.
End of the Year Trips
At PA Distance Learning we hold end of the year trips each year. This is an awesome way for our students to come together, along with their parents or guardians, and celebrate the end of the long school year.
For example, following the 2018-2019 school year students had the opportunity to attend one of three different end of the year trips to Kennywood Amusement Park, Philadelphia Zoo or Hershey Park.
End of the Year Graduation Ceremonies
Finishing high school is a really big deal. At PA Distance Learning we make sure our students know just how proud we are of their accomplishments. Each year we hold a graduation ceremony. This year, the 2019-2020 graduation ceremony will be held in Harrisburg.
In addition to our high school graduation, we also hold a Kindergarten Graduation each year at our headquarters in Wexford. Both graduations are also streamed live!