Acceleration Academies_Spring2023_Pathways Magazine
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Olivia Jones Finds<br />
Support and Community at<br />
Lowcountry <strong>Acceleration</strong> Academy<br />
When schools finally reopened after being<br />
closed for months during the Covid pandemic,<br />
Olivia Jones had fallen far behind. And<br />
the large, traditional high school to which<br />
she returned only made things worse.<br />
Olivia felt overwhelmed by the 4,000-plus<br />
member student body, the jammed hallways<br />
and crowded classrooms. And when other<br />
students started to body-shame and bully her,<br />
she found herself growing more and more<br />
disconnected.<br />
The activities she once loved — color guard,<br />
Spanish club, chorus — lost their magic. The<br />
classes where she used to get strong grades<br />
became, instead, scenes of struggle. The<br />
clique-dominated social scene seemed destined<br />
to leave her feeling forever on the outside.<br />
“I couldn’t fit in with anybody. I felt alone,”<br />
she says. Because of her increasing social anxiety,<br />
“it was really hard for me to ask teachers<br />
questions — It was just a season of me being<br />
lost.”<br />
Just as Olivia was despairing that she might<br />
not make it through high school, her mother<br />
10 <strong>Pathways</strong> | Spring 2023
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