Acceleration Academies_Spring2023_Pathways Magazine

PATHWAYS
Acceleration Academies
Spring | 2023

17
Locations in Seven States
Across the U.S.
| FLORIDA
» Escambia County
• Pensacola
» Lee County
• Fort Myers
» Marion County
• Ocala
» Miami-Dade County
• Homestead
• Miami
» St. Lucie County
• Port St. Lucie
• Fort Pierce
» Sarasota County
• North Port
• Sarasota
| GEORGIA
» Gwinnett County
• Duluth
| KANSAS
» Wichita
| NEVADA
» Clark County
• North Las Vegas
• East Las Vegas
• Southeast Las Vegas
| SOUTH CAROLINA
» North Charleston
| TEXAS
» Ector County
• Odessa
| WASHINGTON
» Bethel School District
• Spanaway

Offering a flexible,
personalized path to success
in high school and beyond.

network by the numbers
Our Graduation Candidates come from all backgrounds and
experiences. They include learners who struggle in a traditional school
setting, need additional one-on-one support or work jobs that don’t fit with
a typical school schedule. Some are young parents; new Americans learning
English; or students who faced bullying, racism or social anxiety in larger
schools. Some are managing medical conditions; others want to accelerate
their studies, graduate early and move on to college, trade school, the
military or professional sports careers. Whatever your circumstances,
Acceleration Academies is here to help you #OwnYourSuccess.
AT
17
ACADEMIES
ACROSS
THE UNITED STATES
MORE THAN
4,400
GRADUATION
CANDIDATES
CURRENTLY
ENROLLED
CELEBRATING
2,000+
GRADUATES
SINCE 2014

Contents
6
8
10
12
13
14
15
15
Removing the non-academic
barriers to academic success
Escambia County GC overcame a
serious injury and found success
Lowcountry GC finds support and
community
Lee County learner no longer has
to decide between hunger and
hope
St. Lucie grad isn’t stopping now
- plans to go to college
Miami-Dade Grad tunes up for
success
Sarasota grad finds her focus
Clark County coach builds bridges
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
Ector County sisters find
calm and coaching they
need
Marion County director
pays it forward
Gwinnett County GC
thrives with help from her
coaches
Bethel GC sets a good
example for her daughter
Wichita Grad has his eyes
on the skies
Scenes from Graduation
Ceremonies
Class Notes: News from All
Academies
PATHWAYS MAGAZINE
© May 2023
EDITOR & DESIGNER
Lisa Meckley
WRITER
Jeffrey Good
COPY EDITOR
Hali Schaefer
PHOTOGRAPHERS
Sarah Campbell
Jeffrey Good
Patrick Gray
Drew Perine
Andrew Whittaker

FIRST
THINGS
FIRST.
At Acceleration Academies,
we’re committed
to removing the
non-academic barriers
to academic success.
At Lowcountry Acceleration Academy — like its
sister schools across the United States — caring
educators make sure young learners don’t get lost.
Late one afternoon, that personalized attention
may have saved a young woman’s life. Graduation
candidate advocate Janell Reyes noticed that one
of the learners on her caseload — a 16-year-old
affectionately known to LAA team members as the
“Quiet Storm” — had disappeared into the bathroom
for a long time. Reyes went in to check, asking, “Are
you okay?”
The young woman said she was, but Reyes wasn’t
sure. She alerted Dr. Jacinta Bryant, the academy’s
founding director. Bryant took a gentle approach,
saying, “We have our cleaning
crews coming in a moment
and we don’t want any
strangers coming in while
you’re here.”
“I can’t come out,” came the
reply, soft and anxious.
Bryant persuaded her to
open the door, saw blood in
the toilet and, after they had
retreated to a quiet room, the
cut marks on her arms. The young woman’s sorrow
poured out: she had lost a sibling, her mother had to
go into dialysis and the family had lost their home.
“She was tired of living in a motel and afraid to lose
her mom,” Bryant recalled. “Her life had just gone
broken.” Bryant and her team stood ready to help
her heal.
“
Her life had just
gone broken.
- Dr. Jacinta Bryant
Bryant and her team teamed up with her mother
and connected the young learner with mental
health services. LAA’s life coach developed a plan
to welcome the young woman back into the
academy and provide the support she needed
to regain her stride. A year and a half later, she’s
going strong — a smiling “quiet storm.”
‘Don’t Call Us Dropouts. The System
Pushed Us Out’
On any given day in the United States, nearly 2
million young men and women who should be
laying the foundation for their futures are instead
scraping by as high school dropouts — and that
doesn’t even count the millions more who have
grown disengaged and are at
risk of quitting.
A decade ago, Acceleration
Academies was founded
by Dr. Joseph Wise and
David Sundstrom, veteran
educational leaders who saw
the need for a different way.
“It was not because the kids
were consciously choosing to
reject what was on the table for them. It was just
the opposite — they felt they had been rejected,”
recalls Sundstrom. Wise adds, “ ‘These kids said,
‘Don’t call us dropouts. We were pushed out. The
system pushed us out.’ “
Many school districts across the country take
pride in boasting graduation rates of 85%, 90%,
6 Pathways | Spring 2023

92%. But what about the remaining 8, 10 or 15
percent, thousands of students who have not
been able to graduate?
Acceleration Academies educators found that
one-size-fits-all schooling didn’t meet the needs
of all young learners.
Students who must work to support themselves
and their families and can’t follow traditional
school hours, who are easily distracted, who
suffer from anxiety, depression and bullying, who
need more one-on-one time with teachers and
counselors, who work best when focusing on one
course at a time, or who simply want to accelerate
their studies and move on to the next chapter —
all cry out for a different approach.
“These are not academic barriers;
they are characteristics of real
people that don’t work well in the
educational factories of today,”
says Acceleration Academies CEO
Steve Campbell.
Getting to Know — and
Support — Each Learner
At Acceleration Academies,
educators deliberately slow the
pace down and get to know each
young learner as an individual.
For many students, academic progress only
comes once educators are able to establish
meaningful personal connections with the
students. It’s only once they understand their
unique life circumstances, challenges and
obstacles, are they able to craft an educational
strategy that flexes to their needs.
“We really take the time to get to know the
GCs one-on-one first, get a sense of who they
are, what they want to do in life,” says Hashima
Carothers, interim Director of Gwinnett County
Acceleration Academies in Georgia. “A lot of times,
it’s not really academic barriers that are leading
them to drop out,” says Carothers. Life barriers
are ones many have had to navigate alone. “Most
of them have never been listened to, have never
been heard.”
From day one, each learner is assigned a graduation
candidate advocate (GCA) who will serve as their
personal mentor, cheerleader and problem-solver.
Students — they’re called “graduation candidates”
(GCs) to remind them of their goals — only take
one course at a time, allowing for them to develop
close relationship with one teacher (called content
coaches) at a time. They meet with life and career
coaches who take stock of their needs and help
them map a personalized path to graduation.
That personal attention, says CEO Campbell, “is our
secret sauce.”
Chris Turner leads Wichita Acceleration Academies,
which has become a safe haven for some GCs who
are teen parents. “We have a community of young
mothers. In most cases, they would prefer to find
child care so they can focus.
But many can’t find it or they
can’t afford it,” says Turner.
“Knowing that they can
bring their child to campus is
a really big deal.”
From Trauma to
Renewal
A critical component of
the support Acceleration
Academies educators
provide to GCs is connecting
them with community organizations that can help
secure housing, provide food and other necessities,
and provide help in a crisis.
Wendy Thompson, Academy Director in Clark
County, NV, and her team developed a database of
community resources they can tap whenever the
need arises. “You don’t want to wait until you’re in
crisis to know what resources are available,” says
Thompson. “We’ve had kids in the middle of the
night saying I’m sleeping in my car.” A phone call or
two later, they have a place to rest their heads.
“You’re not going to be able to move from course
to course if you’re broken and shattered,” says
Bryant. Of the healing central to the mission
of Acceleration Academies across the nation,
Campbell adds, “There’s no more important work.”
Pathways | Spring 2023 7

ESCAMBIA COUNTY ACCELERATION ACADEMIES
ECAA Grad Nathan Godwin
Overcame Serious Injury and Found Success
Even before the car crash, traditional high school
wasn’t working for Nathan Godwin.
A serious-minded young man, Nathan signed up
for AP chemistry, calculus, physics, statistics and
other challenging subjects. But it seemed like the
teachers had to spend more time corralling rowdy
classmates than providing academic support.
Compounding matters, Nathan’s need to work
to support himself made standard school hours
tough to maintain.
In his junior year, Nathan was in a car accident, suffered
a serious spinal injury and had to participate in physical
therapy 30-40 hours a week. Each day, he would log a
full day in classes, then leave at 3 p.m. to do sometimes
grueling therapy until 9 or 10 p.m.
“I couldn’t keep up with any of it,” he says. By
the end of his senior year, he had fallen so far
behind that he couldn’t graduate with his class. “I
didn’t walk with my class and I was pretty much
desperate to find an alternative program.”
Then he discovered Escambia County Acceleration
Academies, which works in partnership with
Escambia County Public Schools to provide a flexible,
personalized path to a diploma for learners who haven’t
found success in traditional settings. At ECAA, Nathan
found what he needed.
The flexible scheduling allowed him to both
succeed in coursework and invest the hours he
needed in physical therapy and a job.
And while he had trouble getting time with a teacher
in his old school, at ECAA he only had to look up to
Nathan plans to go to flight school
and get his pilot’s license to fly cargo
or other commercial airplanes.
find an educator willing to help. Godwin credits
ECAA Director Mat Taylor with welcoming and
encouraging him, and ESE coach Amy Weaver
with providing firm but loving guidance. “She’s
been extremely supportive and motivating,
basically lighting a fire under me.” The fire stayed
lit, and Nathan recently celebrated his graduation.
He couldn’t be happier.
“I wanted to graduate and get my diploma. You
can’t do much without a diploma these days.
A GED doesn’t seem to be the equivalent,”
he says. “When you go to apply for jobs, they
want a high school graduate.”
Nathan successfully completed his physical
therapy after transferring to ECAA and has been
working as a bridge technician, serving and
repairing spans from Pensacola to Tallahassee.
He plans to go to flight school and get his pilot’s
license to fly cargo or other commercial airplanes.
Providing for himself, and eventually a family, is
Nathan’s top priority. As a child, his father spent
time in prison and the family struggled financially.
“Being a kid, not having a lot, not getting a
lot for Christmas, not having what other
people had — I don’t want my children to
find themselves in the same situation,” says
Nathan, 20.
He’s grateful that Acceleration Academies gave
him a second lease on high school and a big step
toward his dreams. He hopes other young learners
will see it as a promising alternative.
“You come here, you can talk one-on-one with
your teacher. You can sit alone or with other
people. You can learn at your own pace,” he
says. “Personalization is everything. Make the
students feel like people and not like statistics,
points on a stat sheet.”

“
“You come here,
you can talk oneon-one
with your
teacher. You can
sit alone or with
other people. You
can learn at your
own pace.”

Olivia Jones Finds
Support and Community at
Lowcountry Acceleration Academy
When schools finally reopened after being
closed for months during the Covid pandemic,
Olivia Jones had fallen far behind. And
the large, traditional high school to which
she returned only made things worse.
Olivia felt overwhelmed by the 4,000-plus
member student body, the jammed hallways
and crowded classrooms. And when other
students started to body-shame and bully her,
she found herself growing more and more
disconnected.
The activities she once loved — color guard,
Spanish club, chorus — lost their magic. The
classes where she used to get strong grades
became, instead, scenes of struggle. The
clique-dominated social scene seemed destined
to leave her feeling forever on the outside.
“I couldn’t fit in with anybody. I felt alone,”
she says. Because of her increasing social anxiety,
“it was really hard for me to ask teachers
questions — It was just a season of me being
lost.”
Just as Olivia was despairing that she might
not make it through high school, her mother
10 Pathways | Spring 2023

saw a flier at the grocery store about a new kind of
school, one with a welcoming environment, personalized
approach and ample one-on-one coaching —
Lowcountry Acceleration Academy.
When she walked into the LAA campus, Olivia knew
she had found a very different school. Rather than
rows of desks, LAA offers comfortable chairs and
tables where students can work alone or in small
groups. “My first impression was just like, wow! I
had never seen a school that
looked like a coffee shop.”
Once she enrolled, she
found that the spirit of
welcome stretched beyond
the physical space and into
the way the educators and
advisors worked with her.
She cited, for example,
English language arts coach
Bria Burke-Koskela and the
regular academic and moral support she provides.
“Most teachers are like ‘Do your work, you have to
get this done!’ “ says Olivia. “She just really takes the
time to get to know her students.”
Graduation candidate advocate Quentin Morrison has
also been a big help. “He’s constantly checking in,”
says Olivia. “It’s not always about school, it’s about
“He’s constantly checking in,”
says Olivia. “It’s not always
about school, it’s about whether
you’re doing okay — and I just
really appreciate that.”
LOWCOUNTRY ACCELERATION ACADEMY
whether you’re doing okay — and I just really
appreciate that.”
While graduation candidates are expected to
stay on task, they’re also given the freedom
to take study breaks when they need it, to use
the restroom without obtaining a hall pass, and
to help themselves to snacks and drinks in the
cafe.
“At regular schools,
you aren’t able to
eat except at lunch,”
Olivia says. “I’m a
diabetic and I need to
be able to stop and eat
sometimes.”
Olivia has also found
a welcoming community
of fellow learners.
She’s had some
struggles with mental health, and she has found
a spirit of embrace among graduation candidates
who have had struggles of their own and
are determined to rise above.
“I’ve struggled with my mental health for a
long time,” she says. “A lot of these students
have had the same experience as me. It makes
me feel safe. I don’t feel ashamed.”
Pathways | Spring 2023 11

LEE COUNTY ACCELERATION ACADEMIES
Lee County Learner No Longer Has to
Decide Between Hunger and Hope
“It was kind of like, eat or get your diploma.” ~ Sam
While still in her teens, Sam White knows all too well about
the need to make her own way in the world. She lives independently,
has to work full time — and found she couldn’t
fit her life inside a traditional school day.
So, while she was a strong student at Riverdale High, she
saw no choice but to drop out. “It was kind of like, eat or
get your diploma.”
Then she found out about Lee County Acceleration Academies (LCAA). Here, she is able to do
most of her schoolwork when she gets home from work in the evening, getting support from
educators via Zoom or phone after the normal school day ends. She also takes one day off work
during the week to visit the campus for intensive support.
“You should be proud of yourself,” graduation candidate
advocate Jonathan Pauyo tells her. “You’re doing
awesome.”
It hasn’t always felt that way for Sam, now 19. After
turmoil at home led her to move in with her college
student boyfriend, she had to work nights at a gas
station to make money to pay her share of the bills.
Good fortune came her way when one of her gas
station customers, the owner of a family pool repair
business, noticed her solid work ethic and positive attitude
and offered her a job in his office. The daytime
hours came as a relief, but they still didn’t leave time
for normal school.
“You’re going to finish strong,” he
tells her. She flashes a quiet smile,
nods toward Pauyo and says, “He’s
motivational — to say the least!”
That’s not a problem at LCAA, which operates in
partnership with the Lee County School District to
provide a non-traditional path for students who are coping with challenges including the need
to work to support themselves.
For Sam, it’s proven the perfect fit. And if she ever feels her momentum slow, she knows educators
like Pauyo will be there to cheer her on. “You’re going to finish strong,” he tells her. She
flashes a quiet smile, nods toward Pauyo and says, “He’s motivational — to say the least!”
12 Pathways | Spring 2023

ST LUCIE ACCELERATION ACADEMIES
St. Lucie Grad Summer Worthington:
‘Hey Girl, You Got This’
For Summer Worthington, high school was hard
enough. The crowded classrooms and lack of
hands-on help combined with turmoil in her personal
life to make her decide to drop out.
Then she decided to give herself one last chance
— at St. Lucie Acceleration Academies, where the
quiet environment, flexible scheduling and intensive
one-on-one coaching promised
to help turn her high school
career around.
Then she got pregnant and had
a baby boy, Marshall. She didn’t
have a babysitter or the money to
hire one. How in the world would
she devote herself to her studies
when her infant needed constant
care? “I’m stuck. I don’t know
what to do,” she told SLAA educators.
“They said, ‘Bring him in.’ I
was like, ‘Really?’ ”
Really. Summer came to the
campus on the weekends and
after-hours, ready to work, and the staff took turns
looking after Marshall while she studied. In January,
she joined a group of her fellow graduation candidates
in becoming graduates — celebrating the occasion
not only for herself but also for her little boy.
“He was my main reason to go and do this,” said
Summer — who at 21 was close to the deadline for
“
“I’m stuck. I don’t
know what to do,”
she told SLAA
educators. “They
said, ‘Bring him in.’
I was like, ‘Really?’”
earning her diploma. And if it weren’t for St. Lucie Acceleration
Academies, “I probably never would have
even attempted to get my high school diploma.”
Summer hasn’t had an easy journey. She had a rough
home life growing up, was twice held back in school,
and was kidnapped just after her 16th birthday by a
man she met online. The trauma led to her spending
five months in a residential mental
health facility, putting her even further
behind in school.
Acceleration Academies celebrates our recent graduates!
After enrolling at SLAA, Summer
struggled at times to stay on track.
But she says the educators there never
gave up on her. Especially helpful
were graduation candidate advocate
Coralynn Long and social studies
coach Orlando Ashah.
“They would push me every day, say,
‘Come on Summer, you need to come
in and do your work,’ ” she recalled.
Sometimes she wouldn’t answer her
phone, but they persisted. “It was like
‘Hey girl, you got this.’ ”
Eventually, she did. Now that she has her diploma
in hand, she’s making plans to study mortuary and
forensic science in college.
“I want to jump back into school,” Summer declares.
“I’m not stopping.”

MIAMI DADE ACCELERATION ACADEMIES
MDAA Grad Christian Johnson
Tunes Up for Success
From the time he was young, Christian Johnson
has been a gifted trumpet player. That spark grew
into a flame when he was in fourth grade and got
invited backstage to meet the legendary Wynton
Marsalis.
Marsalis encouraged Christian to practice every
day, and the young musician took it to heart,
picking up the horn for hours on end day in and
day out. As the end of his high school career
drew to a close, the practice yielded results —
Florida A&M University offered him a full-ride
music scholarship.
But Christian was unable to take advantage
of it. The long hours practicing music and the
academic momentum lost during the Covid
pandemic combined to leave him short of the
credits needed to graduate with his class in 2020.
The news hit him hard. “I completely gave up.”
But then, via Facebook, he found out about
Miami-Dade Acceleration Academies, which
works in partnership with the public school
district to provide a flexible, personalized path
to graduation — including for students like him
who had missed the chance to graduate with
his class.
He only had two classes to go. “I could have been
at college. I could have been playing trumpet,” he
says. “Instead, I wasted all this time.”
When he enrolled, MDAA
Director Marcus Moore was
the first to greet him. “The
first time I walked in, he
said, ‘I’m glad you’re here.
Welcome in.’ ”
Christian is the first to admit
that, at first, he didn’t put in
“He pulled me to to the side, he said, ‘Hey man, half
a credit, you should have been finished by now,’ ”
Christian recalls. “I was like, man, he’s right.”
much of an effort. He had found a job that paid
decent money and school no longer held much
of an appeal. His momentum sagged — but
Moore did not give up.
“He pulled me to to the side, he said, ‘Hey
man, half a credit, you should have been
finished by now,’ ” Christian recalls. “I was
like, man, he’s right.”
Moore, along with other members of the MDAA
team, stayed right there with Christian as he
built the study skills and self-disclipline needed
to finish strong. And in January, the young man
reached his goal and earned his diploma.
He’s on to college and, some day, his
name and music in lights. Christian gives
Moore much of the credit. “He’s one of
the people who put me back on the path.”
14 Pathways | Spring 2023

SARASOTA ACCELERATION ACADEMIES
CLARK COUNTY ACCELERATION ACADEMIES
Rhyannon Jovan:
Helping Young Learners
Find Their Authentic Voices
She tried an online school, but found that solitude quickly
led to distraction. Then she found out about SAA.
Sarasota Grad Mariana Rojas:
‘I’ve never been the type of person to focus
when there are a lot of people there.’
With proud family members and dedicated educators
cheering them on, the latest class of graduates from Sarasota
Acceleration Academies celebrated their high school
diplomas and the futures they have just made that much
brighter.
Mariana Rojas, 18, is one of the newly minted grads. Without
the personalized support and steady encouragement she
received at SAA, she says, she never would have never made
it to this day. “Without Sarasota Acceleration Academies, I
probably would have just gotten my GED,” says Mariana.
Mariana’s parents came to the U.S. from Mexico in search
of more opportunities for themselves and their children.
Mariana tried traditional high school but found herself falling
behind in crowded classrooms led by overworked teachers.
The fact that English is her second language compounded the
challenge. “It’s not their fault,” she said of her old teachers.
“I’ve never been the type of person to focus when there are a
lot of people there.”
She tried an online school, but found that solitude quickly
led to distraction. Then she found out about SAA, where
graduation candidates can take advantage of flexible
scheduling and as much one-on-one coaching as they need.
“Somebody was always there to help you,” she says, singling
out math coach Khaliah Augustin among others. “They
would never get frustrated. They’re just here to help.”
To Rhyannon Jovan, there’s nothing
more rewarding than helping a young
learner find their voice through writing
— especially if it’s a voice that’s been
squelched through racism.
“I’ve worked with so many students
who were told they couldn’t do it,”
says Rhyannon, lead English language
arts content coach for Acceleration
Academies and a member of the Clark
County team. She has dedicated her
career to reversing that narrative.
If Rhyannon is a warrior, she comes
by it naturally. As a bright young Black
student growing up in the Washington,
D.C. area, she earned a scholarship to
an elite private high school — and then
she took the Metro home to a more
diverse neighborhood than those of
her classmates and teachers. “I had
to bridge myself from one world into
another.”
“I’ve worked
with so many
students who
were told they
couldn’t do it.”
One bridge she tries to build is between
students’ cultural backgrounds and
the way they are encouraged — or
not — to express themselves in writing
and speaking. She notes that colonized
cultures are often separated from their
richly historic ways of speaking, told
they need to learn to speak “proper,” i.e.
White.
“We all have our own linguistic history
and that shouldn’t be erased when they
walk into the classroom,” says Jovan. “To
change the lives you touch in every way
— that’s our superpower.”
Pathways | Spring 2023 15

ECTOR COUNTY ACCELERATION ACADEMIES
At EAA, Sisters Find
the Calm and Coaching
They Need to Succeed
Walk into Acceleration Academies of Ector
County and you will find sisters Alliyah and
Kaisa Navarette hard at work on the courses
needed to earn their high school diplomas and
move in the direction of their dreams.
The sisters are close; Kaisa, 16, sometimes helps to
interpret for Alliyah, 18, who has a hearing impairment
and mostly uses sign language to express herself. But
make no mistake — Alliyah is the Big Sister on Campus.
“It’s easier for me to do one course at a time so I
can focus on it.” - Alliyah
“Oh yeah,” says Alliyah, raising an eyebrow and flashing
a wry grin at her sister.
Good-humored sibling banter aside, the sisters have
something important in common. Traditional high
school didn’t work for them, and they are creating
success for themselves with the flexible, personalized
education offered by EAA.
“I don’t like being around a lot of people. I get
anxiety,” says Alliyah. Her sister concurs, saying of
the crowded hallways and classrooms of traditional
school, “It was a lot of drama. I don’t want that.”
In addition to a challenging social dynamic, the sisters
say that it was hard to get the one-on-one help they
needed from teachers who were busy with a large
number of students. “I never felt I was comfortable
enough with myself asking for help,” says Kaisa. Her
sister added, “I needed more help from teachers.”
The sisters found their way to EAA, which works in
partnership with the Ector County Independent School
District to provide a personalized path to students who
had been frustrated in traditional settings. They found a
learning home in the open, airy space with a panoramic
view of Odessa; enjoyed the comfy, cafe-style seating,
and found the focus they needed in the quiet, studious
environment.
“I like being able to study by myself in a room,” says
Alliyah. “I don’t have many distractions.”
The Navarettes say EAA educators are always ready to
listen, coach and lend a helping hand. Alliyah credits
GCA Megan Whitty with checking in on her regularly
and helping her get past obstacles in her coursework.
Grammar is sometimes a challenge, she says, and
Whitty patiently works with her to clarify word meaning
and smooth out syntax. “She wants me to graduate.”
Kaisa struggles with geometry, but says math coach
Jennifer Rosario-Perez works patiently with her
to break down the problems and help her master
the material. “She’ll go over it, she doesn’t get
impatient with me,” she says. “Whenever I feel like
I’m aggravating a person, I’ll quit.”
Rather than juggling multiple courses in a traditional
school, they and their classmates at EAA are able to
take one course at a time, demonstrating mastery
before moving on to the next. Says Alliyah, “It’s easier
for me to do one course at a time so I can focus on it.”
Alliyah is hoping to graduate this summer and move
on to cosmetology school. Kaisa likely has a couple of
years to go, but then sees herself going on to college,
getting a good job and living a quiet life. Both are
grateful for the way EAA is helping them to reach their
goals.
Alliyah says simply, “I want to graduate.”
16 Pathways | Spring 2023

MARION COUNTY ACCELERATION ACADEMIES
MCAA Director Wayne Livingston:
‘You Just Have to Keep Pushing Through’
In 35 years as a Florida public school
educator, Wayne Livingston saw that
one size does not fit all.
“For years, I’ve been saying, ‘Man,
we need something else to offer
students,” says Livingston, who
worked as a special education
teacher, sports coach and school
principal in traditional schools
before becoming Director of Marion
County Acceleration Academies.
“Our mission is really simple: give
the graduation candidates another
chance.”
Livingston, a 59-year-old father
of two, knows something about
pursuing a different path. Growing
up in Harlem, he saw too many of
his neighbors and friends get caught
up in addiction, crime and unrealized
potential. Early on, he decided to
pursue a different route — to strive
for success in the classroom, in
sports, and in life.
Livingston’s strength as an athlete
brought him to the University
of Florida, where he was a track
standout. Senior year, he did an
internship as a physical education
teacher at North Marion High
School. The principal saw how
well Livingston connected with the
students and offered him a job —
not as a PE teacher but as a special
educator.
At 22, Livingston was was old
enough to be an authority figure, but
young enough to be relatable. As he
helped his students work through
academic, personal and emotional
challenges, he showed them that he
would stay right by their side, no
matter what.
Livingston was paying it forward.
Growing up, he had to deal with
a serious stutter; he fondly recalls
a middle school science teacher
who provided firm but loving
guidance and encouragement to
help him overcome the challenge.
“You don’t know your impact on
a person,” he says. “The work I’m
doing now with these kids is giving
them a second chance, in some
cases a third chance, to look at life
differently.”
Livingston is a big man with kind
eyes who moves quietly through
the MCAA campus, checking in
with graduation candidates and
encouraging them to be their best
selves.
“You’re closer to success than you
might realize,” he tells them. “You
just have to keep pushing through.”
“
“You’re closer to
success than you
might realize.”
- Wayne Livingston’s
advice to his
Graduation
Candidates
Pathways | Spring 2023 17

GWINNETT COUNTY ACCELERATION ACADEMIES
Malu Montero Britto
of GCAA
Adapts to a New
Country, Language
and Way of Learning
When Malu Montero Britto
moved to the United States
from Peru as a 5th grader, the
transition was rough. In addition
to adjusting to a new country
and language, she had to deal
with unjustified hostility from
some of her peers.
“I was nervous to speak up
because I didn’t speak English
and people would make fun of
me,” she says. Classmates would
taunt her, saying, ‘You’re dumb,
we don’t understand you.”
Her family also took some time
to settle down, and she bounced
from school to school, dealing
with bullying at every step.
Finally, in high school, she gave
up on traditional school and
decided to try for a GED. But
that, too, was a rough road; she
found that studying online was
isolating, and when she needed
help from a teacher, it was hard
to come by.
“I told myself I could do it, but it
was too difficult,” she says. She
lost momentum and began
to despair. “I would see people
graduating from Mountain View
(her old school) and I would say,
‘That should have been me.’ ”
She told her mother, “I’m tired
of being unstable. I want to
graduate — and I want to start
making my own money.”
With her mother’s help, Malu
found her way to Gwinnett
County Acceleration Academies,
which works in partnership with
Gwinnett County Public Schools
to offer a flexible, personalized
course of study for students
who’ve been frustrated in
traditional settings.
At GCAA, Malu found a quiet,
studious learning environment
with zero tolerance for bullying
and a team of educators who
stood ready to support her
in every way. Every time she
would come up short on a
practice test in her adopted
language, for instance, English
language arts content coach
Morris Bevily would break
down the sentences and words
for her to help her better
understand.
“What I really like is that there are
teachers here who are going to
help me graduate,” she says.
She appreciates that, like all
public schools, GCAA provides an
education free of charge. “I was
like, I’m not going to lose that
opportunity.”
GCAA’s flexible scheduling has
also proved a boon. She comes
to campus to study three days a
week, and is able to keep a fulltime
construction job she landed
working with her brother.
“I can choose my days and that
helps me with my job and my
work for school.”
Malu has an artistic eye and
would like to study interior
design in college. She knows that
earning a diploma will position
her better for success than a
GED would have — and the
momentum she’s regained at
GCAA has built her confidence
her potential.
“I want to graduate because
I want to have a better
opportunity here in the United
States,” she says. “If you want
a professional job, you need a
degree.”
18 Pathways | Spring 2023

BETHEL ACCELERATION ACADEMIES
BAA Grad Trista White:
‘Acceleration Has Really Changed My Life For The Better’
When her baby Esme was born with her intestines outside
her body, Trista White and the child’s dad lived in the
hospital room for months, supporting Esme as doctors
performed surgery after surgery and dealt with complication
after complication.
Trista showered her baby with love 24/7 but felt powerless
to do much more. She decided it was time to do something
she had been thinking about for a long time: get her high
school career back on track.
“I really just wanted to
finish something, to accomplish
something,”
says Trista, who had
dropped out. “I went to
school all these years
and didn’t have a diploma
to show for it.
I was already setting
a bad example for my
daughter.”
Traditional high school
had not worked for
her. “Sitting in a regular
classroom for me
personally was not really
a good fit. There
were at least 30 kids
in the same classroom,
so there were a lot of other people who needed attention. I
didn’t speak up as well as I should have and it was really
hard to get that one-on-one time that I needed.”
Trista would like to study clothing design in college and
develop her own line of garments for children like Esme
whose medical conditions don’t allow for normal attire.
Complicating matters, she had to work full-time to earn
money to support her extended family even before Esme
arrived. She had a job as shift manager at an Arby’s
restaurant, worked from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and had to use
city buses to get around — a schedule that left no room for
standard high school hours.
She found her way to Bethel Acceleration Academies,
where the flexible scheduling and personalized coaching
enabled her to turn the corner — and to turn it so well that
she recently held Esme in her arms and celebrated her
graduation.
“I surely would not have graduated,” says Trista, 21. “I
wouldn’t have thought a lot of things through without
the help of the coaches there.”
Trista acknowledges that even after coming to BAA, she
sometimes let her attention and studies drift. She credits
Assistant Director and social studies content coach
Kevin Torres with never giving up on her, reminding
her again and again of her
potential for success.
“Coach Torres was the
number one person who
kept in touch with me,”
she says. “That was supernice
and super helpful.”
And that support extended
through the entire
BAA team, whose members
provided her and her
classmates with steady attention,
academic support
and personal encouragement.
“They helped me to
stay on task and pushed
me to do my work.”
Happily, the medical interventions helped Esme overcome
her medical challenges and leave the hospital
with strong prospects for a healthy life. “She’s doing
awesome,” Trista reports. “She’s just starting to walk
and she started talking.”
And Trista has a dream: She’d like to study clothing
design in college and develop her own line of garments
for children like Esme whose medical conditions don’t
allow for normal attire. And that hope has a strong
chance of becoming a reality thanks to the foundation
she laid at Bethel Acceleration Academies.
“Acceleration has really changed my life for the better.”
Pathways | Spring 2023 19

WICHITA ACCELERATION ACADEMIES
Peyton Campbell:
With Hard Work and Help
from WAA, His Forecast Calls
for Blue Skies Ahead
To see Peyton Campbell glide around the room
at Wichita Acceleration Academies, you’d never
guess that he’s a young man who’s seen his
share of struggle.
Sporting a Carhartt work shirt and well-worn leather
boots, the teenager greets his elders as “whippersnappers,”
waxes enthusiastic about his plans to sell
roller-equipped boots on Shark Tank, and geeks out
about tornadoes.
Not long ago, Peyton’s world seemed
to be coming apart. After cycling
through the Kansas foster care system
for a decade, he was pulled yet
again from his parents’ home and
was unsure where he would spend
his senior year.
Peyton wasn’t eager to plunge into
a brand new school full of unfamiliar
teachers and classmates. He decided
to try WAA and its flexible, personalized
approach. He felt right at home
and began coming to campus when
the doors opened, then studying until they closed at
night. He was able to power through his remaining
classes and — the day before his 18th birthday — celebrate
his diploma.
“I came in every single day, just kept knocking out
classes,” says Peyton. And he did it with help from
the caring team of educators at WAA. He credits,
“
“If I’m just by myself, I
get distracted, get off
pace,” he says. “Kevin
and Jarrett would say,
‘Come on, let’s just get
it done.’ ”
among others, English coach Jarrett Schaef
and social studies coach Kevin Farlow for helping
him stay on task.
“If I’m just by myself, I get distracted, get off pace,”
he says. “Kevin and Jarrett would say, ‘Come on,
let’s just get it done.’ ”
Even before he graduated, Peyton
had his future mapped out.
Fascinated with weather since he
was a child growing up in the Midwest’s
Tornado Alley, he decided
he wanted to become a TV meteorologist
and approached KSN-TV
to pitch himself as an intern.
While he hasn’t been on camera
yet, Peyton practices in front of
the green screen whenever he
can and works closely with the station’s
weather team to build forecasts
and chase after the storms moving through.
With college in the forecast, his future is looking
sunny, indeed.
“Peyton knows exactly what he wants to do,”
says WAA Director Chris Turner. Graduation
candidate advocate Veronica Headings adds,
“He has that drive. I think we’ll see him on the
news one day.”
20 Pathways | Spring 2023

This is why we’re here.
Pathways | Spring 2023 21

class notes
Bethel, WA
In the first quarter of 2023, graduation candidates
from Bethel Acceleration Academies
powered up our mentorship program with
Spanaway Elementary School. This year we
have 8 GCs who visit the school weekly and
are paired with 1-4 younger students to talk,
laugh and learn. This has been a great opportunity
for our GCs to build leadership skills and
serve the community.
— Alison Roseboro, Director
Wichita, KS
GCs at Wichita Acceleration Academies now
have regular opportunities to access experts
from the Workforce Alliance of South Central
Kansas. On Workforce Wednesdays, case managers
from the Alliance hold office hours on our
campus to help GCs get connected with employers,
build resumes, and hone other career skills.
These opportunities are a critical component in
preparing our GCs for their life after graduation.
— Chris Turner, Director
Gwinnett County, GA
Educators and learners moved into Gwinnett
County Acceleration Academies’ new, permanent
site during the first quarter. The move
created bigger and better learning spaces, more
opportunity for mentoring by content coaches
and graduation candidate advocates and a more
rewarding GC experience.
— Hashima Carothers, Interim Director
Ector County, TX
Educators and GCs were excited to move into
our new, more spacious permanent site on the
second floor of the Prosperity Bank building
in downtown Odessa, Texas. Graduation
candidates will benefit from a larger learning
space and more places to study quietly or gather
in small groups as they work toward earning
their high school diplomas.
— Jennifer Lawson, Interim Director
Clark County, NV
CCAA is off to a roaring start in 2023 with
enrollment climbing to over 1,400 students
and our graduating class for June expected to
be 182, our biggest ever. GCs have completed
more than 3,400 courses already this year, and
many participate in a monthly CTE speaker
series with experts in cybersecurity and the
tech industry coming to speak to students about
post-secondary opportunities. A cohort of
Clark GCs has earned their Google Analytics
certifications through our partnership with the
Nevada Help Desk. Another group interested
in health careers recently spent a day jobshadowing
at a local hospital.
— Wendy Thompson, Director
Miami-Dade County, FL
In January, we celebrated 51 graduates. All
came from different backgrounds, experiences
and communities throughout Miami-Dade
County — and each had worked diligently
to arrive at this pivotal moment. Having Dr.
Steve Gallon, MDCPS Board Member, as our
commencement speaker put icing on the cake.
Thanks to our partnership with Miami Lakes
Technical College, grads learned first-hand
about their career and technical programs. Several
of our graduates have progressed to community
college, trade schools, military or their
chosen careers. — Marcus Moore, Director

Sarasota County, FL
Sarasota Acceleration Academies began the
year with 18 newly certified graduates. With
the guidance of our dedicated team of educators
and mentors, our GCs set goals, removed obstacles
and achieved a big win! SAA continues to
focus on graduation by offering the ACT for the
first time on-site to 14 soon-to-be graduates. In
a few weeks, SAA will be getting a mini-makeover.
We can’t wait for our GCs to see the improvements.
— Michelle Llinas, Director
Lowcountry, SC
Woohoo, what a great time to be a part of Lowcountry
Acceleration Academy! In the first
quarter, we already have 11 graduation candidates
completing the requirements for a diploma,
with more to follow soon. We have developed
a career and technical education (CTE)
team to carry our GCs beyond the cap and gown
and strengthen opportunities and relationships
with activities such as Trivia Kahoots, college
tours and holiday celebrations.
— Amber Speights, Director
St. Lucie County, FL
SLAA has been finding new ways to partner
with our community to help our GCs navigate
soon-to-be adulthood. The Village Coalition of
Youth Activities has started a 12-week course
called Skillstreaming the Adolescent with our
young people at the Port St. Lucie site. The
program focuses on skills such as dealing with
stress, planning, starting a conversation, anger
control, nonverbal communication, and dealing
with negative outcomes, just to name a few. We
can’t wait to be able to offer this program to all
of our GCs.
— Paige Latham, Director
Marion County, FL
Marion County Acceleration Academies recently
hosted an awesome ribbon-cutting ceremony
that drew learners, families, educational leaders
and the Ocala Star Banner newspaper — resulting
in a surge of interest among community
leaders, and among students looking for a
non-traditional path. Plans are now in place to
serve middle school students who should be in
high school. — Wayne Livingston, Director
Lee County, FL
Our community and academy have had many
obstacles since opening in January due to Hurricane
Ian, a category-five hurricane. Enrollment
is increasing and we are focusing on our GCs’
academic progress while also attending to their
social-emotional needs from the trauma of the
storm. We celebrated our students as they re-engage
in their education and return to life as they
knew it before September 28, 2022.
— Shelley Markgraf, Director
Escambia County, FL
Escambia County public high schools began
referral enrollment with ECAA in mid-January
and we have since welcomed more than 50 new
GCs. That brings our total enrollment above
160 while our team also works hard to keep
onsite attendance and academic engagement at
top levels. We will celebrate our second class of
grads on May 24 at the Pensacola Bay Center.
— Mathew Taylor, Director
class notes

910 W Van Buren-Suite 315
Chicago, IL 60607
#OwnYourSuccess
in
accelerationacademies.org