Guest Post: PA Distance Graduate & Legacy Parent, Thea Nemac, Tells Her Story
The below has been written by Thea Nemac - PA Distance graduate and now the proud parent of a current PA Distance student, Wyatt.
It was the early 2000s, I believe 2005, and that I enrolled in PA Distance as a junior in high school. I graduated as a senior in 2007. PA Distance was one of the very few online education platforms available. Fun fact too, Mrs. Patricia Rossetti was my social studies teacher during this time!
I felt neglected and disregarded at the brick and mortar high school I attended before enrolling at PA Distance. The school made it very apparent that statuses were a priority over mindful, honest education – spending more money on a football field then updated textbooks, additions to computer labs, tutor accessibility, etc. “Star athletes” were favorited while students trying to succeed academically, came second to them.
I have a math learning disability called dyscalculia. Despite having this learning disability, I have a deep love of learning, including in the sciences. In my middle school years from 2001-2003, I was the only female selected and one out of four students total, to be a part of a NASA Endeavour Program. I remember vividly asking my high school math teacher at the time, for extra help in the current math concepts we were reviewing. He told me he couldn’t provide me additional support, that he had “too much” responsibility with his soccer coaching, and I was most likely just a student who will never succeed at math. I think most would agree, that being vulnerable in asking for help, is not an easy or comfortable task, to receive that response, by an educator, was crushing to me, both academically and emotionally with my self-confidence and self-esteem.
Not only did I have to experience something traumatic like that, but I experienced bullying as well. Again, there was a significant disconnect in how this brick-and-mortar school handled bullying and bullying behaviors. It may sound like some cliché teen movie, yet it is a very real reality, still to this day, but the “more valued” a student, such as their golden athletes, the more was ignored, and even covered up. That type of environment, filled with hypocrisy, fear, and insufficiencies, I knew I didn’t want to be a part of anymore.
As a student who was told I would simply just not succeed or understand, PA Distance set me up for the achievements I gained in my educational career and personally. Online learning contributed to career advancements and time with hobbies, other personal interests, and being able to learn a multitude as much as I wanted or needed. I earned my college degree (Bachelor of Science) at Clarion University of Pennsylvania, Magna Cum Laude, in Library and Information Sciences. I was a recipient of David R. and Carolyn G. Wright’s Leadership Scholarship and the recipient of the General Federation of Women’s Clubs Pennsylvania State President’s Scholarship, which the Board of Directors approved as a one-time-only scholarship for a student studying Library Science. Part of this PA State President’s Project was GFWC’s work: Libraries: The Building Blocks of Tomorrow “Make Libraries Rock.”
As someone who holds a degree in library and information sciences, I understand the growing dynamics of the tech-based world. As a mother to an enthusiastic, determined, animated, kind kindergartener (incoming first-grader) with autism and other special needs, it’s important to me that not only is he respected as the individual that he is, but that his education and learning processes are equally as valued.
My son was enrolled in PA Distance in 2019 for kindergarten and is now beginning first grade. As many parents, caregivers, and families wrongly have to experience, Wyatt endured bullying, ignorance, inadvertence, lack of awareness all by peers, professionals, and teachers. My son’s resilience amazes me. But trauma experienced like this is painful, it lingers.
Instead of my son and other peers, being forced or threatened by fear of punishment, by overwhelming pressure, confusion and anxiety, to worry about their physical and emotional safety, to fix into a specific box with all the same checked characteristics and expectations, my son gets to thrive at PA Distance as the individual he is. He is consistently encouraged, supported, and respected by his teachers and team here. His teachers and his team have taken such careful considerations towards him, and not just in the realm of support and education services, but to take time to know HIM. They don’t just stop at the beginning of the year with the first day welcome, it has built throughout the entire year, and as a PA Distance graduate myself, I know this develops into a remarkable educational foundation for present and future, but also lasting relationships with teachers and staff.
There is a wide range in the space of debating in regards to excessive technology use, to carefully, well-thought-out, implemented tech supports and resources. Computers and electronic devices can help alleviate emotionally and physically stressful aspects for children with special needs such as autism because they provide consistency. A child in an online learning environment, not just with special needs, learns control in this learning space, and how to be accountable for that control. A student learns in notable depth, what self-awareness is, and how to utilize it to their best interests and capabilities. A student here learns self-discipline and responsibility. My son takes pride in his responsibilities and work with and towards school, and his teachers and team provide the same in return.
I believe one of the major misconceptions about any online learning platform is attributing to social skills. Students have access to online clubs, and field trips, both in-person and virtual, and more at PA Distance. My son plays hockey, rides horses, is part of local YMCA programs, and more. He is extremely engaged, has a core group of friends that he cares about very much. Students, teachers, staff, therapists, and other support staff/services are communicating in real-time daily. In live learning, joint communicating is shared – listening, answering, turn-taking, discussions, patience, and more. Children specifically with special needs, I believe, have more access to adaptive resources that in return helps assist them socially, in a way that they feel best and most comfortable, therefore leading to less social anxiety, more confidence, and better strides in the realm of socializing and personal development. Much of these virtual components will be used in future careers/fields for many. Students and families can engage with a range of multimedia content and learning materials and not be limited or restricted.
Another misinterpretation I believe about any online learning is the quality and expertise of faculty and staff. What is truly remarkable to me is that the same care I received as a student in the early 2000s is the same care, if not even more, today with my son in kindergarten at PA Distance. The teachers and other faculty here WANT to know your child. They want to know how and what it is that helps your child learn best, how to support and assist your child in a way that is fit for solely them. Students are face to face with their teachers and team. They are developing connections. Connections that PA Distance honestly care about.
It’s my hope that instead of there so much debate, distress, and combativeness towards online learning, that it becomes respected and supported, to be understood for what it really is, which is quite simple – education. Education at its most adept form…mindful, tailored, advanced. I don’t want ignorant interference deciding my son’s education or how he should learn, that should be my son’s choice, my son should learn exactly how he learns, is able to learn. We, as parents and caregivers want our children to be built up in this world and society, and to build up others, to create a more enriched, thriving society for all. Accepting and encouraging all ways of learning, both currently implemented and for future abilities/ways of learning, should be something that everyone, as human beings, I believe, should want to see in this world.
If you are a PA Distance Graduate, and want to tell your story, send an email to Kelsey at kelsey.mulac@padistance.org