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K 12 CloseupsThe LiknessFamilyCHEF’S DELIGHT4Home:Woodstock, Ga.School:Georgia Virtual AcademyPets:2 dogs, 2 catsFavorite Dinner:Marinated New York stripsteak with roasted redpotatoesFavorite Family Movie:ElfFavorite Book:(tie) Little House on thePrairie series and NancyDrew seriesIt is a Thursday morning,and 8-year-old Alyssa “LizzieMarie” Likness is busy in thekitchen of her family’s Woodstock,Ga., home, cooking up herlatest goodies made with fresh andhealthy ingredients. With the helpof her parents, Lizzie has transformedher interest in cooking into a promisingLizzie Marie, 8; Doreen & Jeremyenterprise, Lizzie Marie Cuisine.Since 2006, the business has blossomed fromsales at a summer farmers market to her own Web site featuringLizzie’s cooking demonstrations, kids’ cooking classes at a local community center, and appearanceson local television stations and at the annual Taste of Atlanta, alongside other well-known localand national chefs.“I love cooking, and I have a passion for other things, too, like horseback riding. I really like drawingfashions,” says the young entrepreneur and “chief culinary officer.” “One of those things I wouldlove to do when I grow up, but right now my top priority is to be a chef,” says Lizzie.Education is another priority for the Likness family. Mom Doreen homeschooled Lizzie whenthe family moved to Georgia in 2006. When the state opened the Georgia Virtual Academy (GVA),Doreen immediately enrolled her daughter, thinking it would provide Lizzie the flexibility she neededto continue to run her business while being continually challenged at school.“GVA allows a student to move ahead in the grade levels once they’ve mastered the current curriculum,”Doreen explains. “On the flip side, those families who have a student who needs to spendmore time to master the curriculum, they can do it at their own pace.”A fourth-grade student, Lizzie excels at language arts, studies history, and enjoys math and science.Lizzie likes to focus on one subject every day and cover three to four lessons at a time. On one day,for example, Lizzie might read stories and then answer questions to show her reading comprehension;on another, she might tackle two- and three-digit multiplication lessons.The skills Lizzie cultivates through her business also translate into school credit. “A lot of timeswhen she’s doing a business event, that counts toward a health lesson because she’s teaching peoplehow to identify what healthy foods are and what to do with them,” Doreen says. Cooking lessons alsooffer lessons in math and science, such as multiplication and division required for doubling or halvingrecipes, or the chemical reactions that occur when active baking ingredients combine.Sometimes the business is a source of simpler life lessons, such as how to price baked goods basedon the cost of the ingredients. Lizzie also accompanied her parents to the bank to open up a businessbanking account. “She got to learn how to write a check and fill out a deposit slip,” Doreen says.Now in her second year with GVA, Lizzie has become more mature and independent with herstudies, Doreen says, and she’s enjoying more online Elluminate sessions with her teacher, DianeSmoke, and with other GVA students. Lizzie also meets other GVA students in person throughschool field trips and Girl Scout activities. “Socially, she has such a busy calendar,” Doreen says. “Justbecause we school at home doesn’t mean she’s in a bubble.”
The McClintockFamilyLOVING LIFENothing stops 10-year-old ElisabethMcClintock from enjoying life—not her tiny62-pound frame, not the medications and treatmentsshe must undergo daily, and not her cysticfibrosis (CF).“I like to study animals and plants,” saysElisabeth, an outgoing, self-described tomboy. “Iwant to be a veterinarian when I grow up.”Mom Deborah always enjoyed homeschoolingher three children—Abigail, 16, Andrew, 13,and Elisabeth—but she wanted to give them amore challenging curriculum. So, five years ago,she enrolled her older children in the ArkansasVirtual Academy (ARVA).“I also wanted more accountability,” Deborahexplains. “The K 12 curriculum pushes reading,math, and especially English. The homeschoolingcurriculum I was using would skip diagrammingsentences,” for instance. The K 12 curriculumstarts sentence diagramming in second orthird grade.For Elisabeth, a fifth-grader, her medicalcondition makes virtual learning even morevaluable.CF is an inherited chronic disease that affectsthe lung and digestive systems in about 30,000adults and children in the United States. It commonlyleads to life-threatening lung infections.“The virtual academy gives us the flexibilityto work with her many doctors” at severalappointments each month, says Deborah.“Whenever Elisabeth has a lung flare-up, shecould be hospitalized for weeks. Last year, shewas in the hospital for 18 days. It’s just easier forme to access her lessons right from the computerat the hospital. It’s great to be able to do that.”Now in her third year with ARVA, Elisabethwakes up every morning at 7:30 a.m., so that hermom can remove the night feeding tube. Sheeats breakfast and takes a round of medicines,followed by 30 to 40 minutes of lung treatment.During their morning ritual, Deborahand Elisabeth review the lesson plans to beHeyDid You Know?A microgram is one-millionth of a gram.accomplished that day. Then Elisabeth does herschoolwork until lunchtime, then chores andplay before finishing her schoolwork for theday—usually by 3:30 p.m.Other days are less than typical. On a recentMonday, Elisabeth spent six hours at the hospitalparticipating in a new phase-three drug study,alongside 140 other CF patients. “We took allher school books with us to the hospital, and shedid her schoolwork in between all the doctorsand nurses coming in. The flexibility is great tobe able to do that,” Deborah says.Back home, ARVA administrators makeit easy for Elisabeth to visit regular schoolsfor state testing and other functions given herspecial needs. “She needs to be tested in a smallgroupsetting, she needs to be allowed to bring asnack, she needs to have hand sanitizer and notbe near a sick child,” Deborah explains. To makesure those needs were met, ARVA held an onlineElluminate session with Deborah. In one hour,they drafted a special-needs plan for Elisabeth.Medical circumstances aside, Deborah saysshe prefers ARVA over bricks-andmortarschools because of theindividualized attention thatparents and virtual schoolteachers can provide.“You know what yourchild’s strengths andweaknesses arewithout having towait for a reportcard,” she says.“Every day, youhave the feedbackto knowwhat your childneeds to workon. You can’tbeat that when itcomes to educatingyour child.”Home:North Little Rock, Ark.School:Arkansas Virtual Academy (ARVA)Pets:2 dogs, 2 catsFavorite Dinner:TacosFavorite Family Movie:(tie) High School Musical and Nightat the MuseumFavorite Book:Old YellerElisabeth, 10;Andrew, 13; Abigail,16; Deborah &Timothy5
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