LIFE AT LAKE VIEW ACADEMY 2009-10

                                           Fall 

Sailing

  Kayaking

 Preparing Lunch Over an Open Fire

Highlights From Lake View Academy's Summer 2009 Newsletter

Excerpts from the speeches of the graduates:

 When I first started a public high school, I had no idea what it would be like or how it ran, and I wasn’t told anything about it.  I had to learn by immersing myself in it.   It was a crash course, and I definitely crashed!  At first, I let myself fail easy classes, like algebra and literature, thinking I could recover later in the year.  I didn’t know that you get semester grades and that once the semester ended, that was all the time you got.  Even after I figured this out, that knowledge still did not help me improve my grades.

After my fourth year, my stepfather suggested I check out LVA.  His sister and nephew had gone there.  As soon as I walked into the door, I loved the place.  It was in a church so it would be peaceful, which I needed desperately.  With its small enrollment, teachers could focus on you much longer, which I also needed desperately….

Coming to LVA has changed me in so many ways.  But the main thing that I walk away with today is one of Jesus'  most demanding and remembered teaching—FORGIVENESS—this is one of the hardest things I've ever had to learn how to do. 

My years in high school have been an emotional roller coaster.  There have been so many ups and many downs.  But as you can see I've made it through.

I didn’t do it alone.  My teachers taught me over and over until I learned the concepts.  My friends held my hand until the struggles were over.  My family pushed me until I pushed myself in the right directions.  And God has blessed me with so many amazing people who have impacted my life….

My first year of high school I made a couple of friends.  I was mainly going to class and doing my work.  My first quarter I got A’s and B’s – my best grades ever. 

Going into sophomore year I felt confident.  I started out well, but then I made some new friends and started to cut classes to hang out with them.  It got worse during my junior year:  I stopped going to school on a regular basis.

Even after four years, I didn’t have enough credits to be a senior.  I decided that it was time to get serious, so I came back for my fifth year.  I felt like I was an old guy going to school with little kids, but I was determined to do well in school and to graduate.  However, there was a new principal and in October she said that I could not stay.  She gave me the option to go to another school or to attend a satellite school. 

Everything at the satellite was going well until the teacher assigned us a book report.  I didn’t like this assignment because I don’t like reading.  We had plenty of time to do it, but as always, I left it to the last minute.  One week before Thanksgiving break, the teacher added that if anyone didn’t finish, they would be dropped from the school.  I didn’t take him seriously.  I didn’t even attempt to do my book report.  When everybody came back from break, the first thing the teacher asked for was the reports.  I did not have anything to turn in.  The teacher told me to turn in my books, wished me good luck, and I left. 

I thought about what to do next.  The first thing that came to my head was Lake View Academy.  My mother had wanted me to attend LVA, but in my mind that was my last resort….  My first day felt weird.  I didn’t know anybody but my brother.  The school was so different.  The teachers weren’t like other teachers; we called them by their first names.  To me, this wasn’t like school; this was like a second home. 

I got off to a good start.  I was going to school and doing my work.  Then I began to skip school and stopped working hard.  I was working late and sometimes I went with my friends from my old school.  I was starting to go back to my old ways…. 

Even though my attendance was poor, they let me come back to school the following year.  As always, I started off well but began to fall apart by December.  In January, I attended my two-week class without trouble.  Then I fell back into my old ways and the teachers had a conference.  They decided that they were going to let me go so I could get myself together. 

I worked full time and forgot about school.  As time went by, I realized I needed to go back to school so I could attend an automotive program….

When I started high school, my goal was to work hard, get good grades, and go to college. 

My first weeks went by smoothly.  I was getting good grades.  But then the classes began to get harder and I began to get zeros on my homework.  This really discouraged me because I was doing my best.  Freshman year ended and it was the hardest time of my life.  I felt like I had worked really hard and had nothing to show for it.  Even worse, I had to go to summer school.

 I knew I had to have a better sophomore year and got off to a good start.  Then I began to get lazy.  I snapped out of my lazy spell and did better, but again I had to go to summer school.  I wasn’t so upset because I knew it was my fault.

My junior year I worked hard and did well until I got the flu and missed three days of school.  I did my best to make up the work, but it didn’t happen.  I was depressed.  I didn’t want to go to school because I didn’t see the point. 

I had to repeat 11^th grade.  Once again, what I thought was good wasn’t good enough for the teachers.  I began to think something wasn’t right with me. 

The dean met with my parents and me and gave us a list of alternative schools.  Lake View Academy stood out: it was a program of a church and they accepted only 20 students.  It seemed like a good place for me.  I made friends pretty quickly.  The team-building exercises helped us get to know each other.  At the end of the quarter I was really proud of myself for being on the honor roll. I realized that I was capable of doing well.

I was nervous about going to high school because I heard there were a lot of gangs, but my first day was kind of fun.  I knew a lot of people.  I never got in trouble.  I finished the year with a GPA of 2.5.  But that GPA didn’t last for long.  And my good attendance didn’t last either. 

By junior year I was cutting a lot and failed two classes.  My senior year was a disaster.  We got a new principal and they made a lot of rules I didn’t like.  My classes were hard.  I worked hard, but I was failing everything.  So I just gave up and wanted to drop out.

I wanted a better opportunity at my job and in life.  I was making $10.00 an hour working in a food store warehouse.  I could not be promoted because I did not have a high school diploma.  I had stopped gone to high school a year and a half before I was slated to graduate.  There were fights every day; security had to block the hallways; you couldn’t get to class on time.  I finally quit.  My parents said I had to get a job.  I started a night shift at the warehouse.  After working there a year and a half, I wanted a promotion.  I decided to try LVA to finish earning my diploma….

I had trouble getting to school on time: I got off work at 1:00 a.m. and would then have to do homework and sleep.  I liked the school: it was calm; no fights; the teachers were great…. I finished my schoolwork in February 2009.  By March I got a promotion and a significant raise in salary at my job....

My senior year of  high school, I was getting over a broken heart and knew I didn’t have enough credits to call myself a senior.  Going to school was a struggle.  I smiled on the outside to hide all the pain within.  I wasn’t focused on school and wanted to have fun, so I started to skip.  When I passed only two classes first quarter, I knew I wouldn’t be able to graduate with my friends.  I was going down a bad road and I wanted to be happy again. 

I found out about Lake View Academy.  My first impression was, “Wow, this is very small!”  I thought it would be a small private school full of white kids, but instead it was it was a small private school full of Hispanic kids. 

When I started at LVA I wasn’t nervous - I was a little more on the stuck-up side, and some of the kids didn’t like me.  They made fun of me for being a suburban kid just like I made fun of them for being city kids.  However, I did great in my classes.  When fourth quarter rolled around, my grades and attendance slipped a little, but I still enjoyed school….

Last fall—my last semester here—was my hardest.  I was working two jobs and had just gotten my own car….  I loved the January Bible class because it helped me have a little more faith in everything.  When I finished in January, I knew it wouldn’t be the end: I still had more goals to reach.

I regret that I didn’t take high school seriously.  I did well when I started, but by junior year, I was cutting school too often to be on track.  About this time, my guidance counselor suggested that I attend an alternative high school.

My friends and I got accepted  at an alternative high school. I had the best time of my life with friends and my boyfriend.  I was doing so well in school that I couldn’t believe my grades.  I was taking school seriously.  I had learned from my mistakes.

Then in September of my senior year, my father needed a lung transplant.  While waiting for the transplant, he had a heart attack.  He was in a coma for a week, and then he passed away.

I went back to school to do all my makeup work, but I could not concentrate.  I seemed to be a different person – I became quiet instead of the outgoing person I used to be.  I wanted to be left alone because I was feeling depressed.  I wanted to take time off from school. 

After a month of not going to school or doing anything besides babysitting, I got bored.  I was depressed, but at the same time I was desperate for a new start.

My sister and I read about Lake View Academy.  I liked it because it reminded me of a home, not a school, and it felt snuggly.  There were just a few teachers but they seemed nice, friendly, and caring. It was just what I needed.

About the time I started at Lake View Academy, I got my U.S. residency and my first job.  I felt accomplished with my new start….

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