Senior, Giovanni Waters, Will Graduate with a Leadership-Driven Legacy
If you ask anyone at PA Distance if they know Giovanni, chances are they not only know him but they’d have positive things to say about his leadership skills and work ethic, too. Since enrolling at PA Distance in 2018, Giovanni has thrived in an online learning environment and made strong friendships along the way.
“My time at PA Distance has flown by. It’s crazy,” Giovanni said. “My time here has been the best educational experience I’ve ever had. Everyone is so nice. I’m grateful.”
“I’ll miss the connections that I have with my teachers,” he added. “It’s been amazing.”
In his four-year high school career at PA Distance, Giovanni has been heavily involved in a variety of extracurricular activities, including the Core 4 Committee, eSports team, Cooking Summer Camp and Cooking Club, Dungeons, and Dragons Club, and much more.
As the eSport team’s Membership Chair, Giovanni has brought his leadership skills to a new area of the school.
“I give information to students interested in joining the team,” Giovanni said. “When you get all the personalities together it makes it a fun environment. Students can make new friends and get together with new people.”
Giovanni is also an active member of the PA Distance Core 4 Committee where he and his student colleagues and staff members encourage fellow students to exhibit behaviors themed around these four positive habits: organization, self-advocacy, working independently, and attendance.
“I like being a part of the Committee because, as a student, I can give teachers and staff
my point-of-view to help other students succeed,” Giovanni added. “Each lesson is themed around a different attribute each month and it helps my classmates learn how to be good students.”
Giovanni plays a pivotal part in brainstorming virtual events to reward students who participate in the Core 4 within their daily life at PA Distance. One of these events was the “Chopped Challenge” which was based on the Food Network TV show "Chopped", where contestants get a basket containing four random ingredients. Using every ingredient, competitors are challenged to make a delicious meal in 30 minutes. During this event, Giovanni was challenged to cook against high school social studies teacher, Miss. Petraglia.
“I’ve been a part of the Cooking Club and the Cooking Summer Camp every year since I came to PA Distance,” Giovanni added. “I’ve learned a lot from Miss. Petraglia over the years so it was cool to be able to compete against her.”
Giovanni is also heavily involved in the Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) after-school club here at PA Distance. The club offers students the opportunity to collaborate as a team through a role-playing adventure game, D&D.
“I can have fun with friends and family. It’s just a cool game to play because of all the role-playing and different stuff that you can do in D&D,” Giovanni said. “My favorite part about the Game Night was seeing all the different students in D&D Club, teachers, and everyone interacting and having fun.”
Giovanni made his character, delved into dungeons, and solved riddles to gain treasure. For the final stage of the club’s “campaign”, student members and staff sponsors held an in-person Game Night at a game studio in Monroeville, PA. The group of 14 students, some driving from across the state, met in person for the first time to fight the final boss of the campaign and explore teasers for next year's adventure.
Giovanni has also presented some facts about his involvement, and that of his fellow students to the PA Distance board of trustees, administrators, teachers, and staff. His presentation included school-wide updates including in-class projects, events, and happenings within the elementary, middle, and high school, and after-school clubs.
“I enjoyed it,” Giovanni said. “I could tell the Board was interested to hear about everything going on at the school.”
Post-graduation, Giovanni plans to pursue a career in welding. After having completed a career research project during his 11th-grade English class where he researched welding, he decided it was a good fit for him.
“I knew I wanted to do something hands-on and I thought a trade would work well for me,” Giovanni said. “I learned a lot about welding while working on my career project and knew it was the right career for me. It was a great project.”
He plans to pursue a position with Penn Commercial, which isn’t far from where he lives now, in Washington, PA.
Most notably in his years as a student, involvement in extracurricular activities, and leadership roles, Giovanni has developed a variety of skills and maintained relationships with his peers that, he says, will carry on after he graduates.
“We will still be friends after graduation,” Giovanni said of his relationship with his classmates, Alex and Casey.
“My advice for future students is to take advantage of the office hours and one-on-one time that each teacher offers,” he explained. “They help you understand assignments and topics differently.”
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About PA Distance Learning Charter School
Since 2004, PA Distance has been providing a welcoming virtual learning environment for students in grades K-12 across Pennsylvania. Students at PA Distance engage in a blended environment that combines “synchronous” and “asynchronous” learning.