When students speak, the education world must stop and listen. Welcome to the “Students Speak” series on Future of School: The Podcast, presented in partnership with National School Choice Week.

Courtney Stevens is today’s guest. Courtney is a first-year student at Front Range Community College: Larimer Campus in Fort Collins, Colorado. She also did concurrent enrollment at the college while she was in high school.

Courtney began taking online classes as a high school senior as a result of the pandemic and found that she liked them as much as she enjoyed her in-person courses. She now takes classes online as well as in-person.

At first, the less structured schedule of online schooling felt challenging, but within a month Courtney adjusted. She also experienced more reading and writing in online classes due to the different structure, but found she adapted to this quickly, as well. Not only did she feel much more safe taking class online during the pandemic, but she also realized it was a great way to learn.

Classmates who remained in the traditional school were curious about the flexible schedule that enabled Courtney to take morning Tae Kwon Do classes and do Crossfit in the afternoon. She explained that online learning gave her control over her schedule, and she found this to be an important benefit.

When asked about some of the skills she developed most after transitioning to online learning, Courtney says, “I feel like I really cultivated my reading and writing skills... Even just looking at the stuff I wrote during my junior year compared to now, my writing has improved significantly.”

Future of School: The Podcast is hosted by Amy Valentine, CEO and Education Evangelist for Future of School. Subscribe to hear more Students Speak episodes along with upcoming series from Future of School. Follow Future of School on Twitter @futureof_school, follow Amy @amyvalentine555, and learn more on our website: www.futureof.school

National School Choice Week is a not-for-profit, charitable effort to raise awareness of effective K–12 education options for children. NSCW focuses equally on traditional public schools, public charter schools, public magnet schools, private schools, online schools, and homeschools. Participate in the conversation by following @schoolchoicewk on Twitter and using the hashtag #schoolchoiceweek. Learn more at https://schoolchoiceweek.com