Acceleration Academies_Spring2023_Pathways Magazine

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