2022 Q2 Pathways Quarterly Magazine

ESCAMBIA COUNTY ACCELERATION ACADEMIES
Josiah Gadia:
“A Second Chance to Get My Education”
Not so long ago, Josiah Gadia feared
he would never earn his high school
diploma.
Today, he’s being celebrated by family, friends
and educators as the first-ever graduate of
Escambia County Acceleration Academies.
“I didn’t know what I wanted to
do,” he said. “But once Acceleration
Academies was introduced to me, it
just clicked.”
After dropping out of his previous school to work
full-time, Josiah felt a fleeting sense of relief.
“After you drop out, you get a sense of freedom:
‘Oh, I don’t have school anymore,’ ” he said. “But
after a while it gets a little old.”
He found out about ECAA, which works
in partnership with the Escambia County
Superintendent Dr. Timothy A. Smith, Director
of Alternative Education Kerri L. Coots and their
team to provide a flexible, personalized path to
graduation.
Josiah would like to
study video game
and graphic design
in college, with help
from a U.S. Navy
scholarship.
Josiah saw it as “a second chance to get my
education and finally get my life back together.”
He liked that he could take one
course at a time, focusing on one
subject before moving on to the
next. “I can work at my own pace. It
allows me to understand things at
the speed I want.”
His focus wavered when he first began, but he
said that educators including graduation candidate
advocate Cordivido Grice provided warm-butfirm
encouragement. Academy coaches also
helped him sort through the personal challenges
— including anxiety, depression and family issues
— that sometimes got in the way.
“Sometimes I have things on my mind and I need
somebody to talk to,” said Josiah. “Even though
I’m 20 now, I’m still not that far out from being a
teenager, so I still have confusion in some aspects
of my life.”
He’s clear about his dreams.
In addition to working on his
songwriting career, Josiah would like
to study video game and graphic
design in college, with help from a
U.S. Navy scholarship rooted in his
grandfather’s service.
What advice would he give to other struggling
students? Find a school program that works for
you, and then do the work. “If you’re not doing
it for someone else, do it for yourself, rather than
not doing it and regretting it later on in life.”