We’re excited to announce the winners of our video contest. Thank you to everyone that submitted entries, voted on YouTube and supported our talented finalists. We received so many great entries this year and we want to celebrate all of our students’ great work. In the next few weeks, we’ll be posting all the video submissions […]
We can’t wait to celebrate with the Class of 2018 at graduation! 2018 Graduation Ceremony: Wednesday, May 30 3:00 p.m. (doors open at 2:30 p.m.) Sacramento Memorial Auditorium 1515 J Street, Sacramento Admission by ticket only. Grad Checkout Details: All Visions graduating seniors must attend one of our Grad Checkout events to receive tickets and […]
May 7-11 is National Charter Schools Week AND Teacher Appreciation Week! This year the California Charter Schools Association featured one of our amazing Independent Study teachers, Michelle Wiggans, for her inspiring work. “Michelle is known by her colleagues as an educator who goes above and beyond to engage students in their learning and support their […]
Tarig Elsiddig has dreamed of being an actor since a young age. After moving from the Bay Area, he found that he was struggling to acclimate to life in a new town. His grades were slipping, he felt depressed, and he didn’t have time to attend auditions or play practice due to the time-consuming demands of his new public school. After speaking to his mother about his concerns they began researching alternative education options and found Visions.
“Visions allowed me to create my own schedule and feel a lot more at ease. Looking back this [choice] improved my mental health.”
At Visions Tarig was able to realize his potential and lift his grades. He had a flexible schedule that allowed him to attend auditions and participate in theater performances. He honed his time management skills and became more and more independent. Most importantly, he was able to learn and pursue his passion for acting at the same time, thanks to Visions’ supportive environment.
After graduating from Visions Tarig briefly attended community college before taking time off due to his budding acting career. He has become a successful stage actor and recently starred in Chautauqua Playhouse’s “A Time To Kill” and the Sacramento Theatre Company’s production of “To Kill a Mockingbird” in a leading role as Tom Robinson. He’s always running to and from auditions and practices and hopes to eventually take his talents to the big screen.
Tarig also recently recorded a radio ad and video interview sharing his Visions story. He hopes to help other struggling students find Visions In Education. Hear his story on our YouTube channel or watch below.
“Visions prepared me for independence. It forced me to really lock in and focus, and now I use that same focus and apply it to any and everything that I study, including scripts for a stage play.”
We’re excited to announce the finalists for the “Why I Love Visions” Video Contest! Due to the impressive amount of submissions we’ve decided to award TRIPLE the prizes. This year we’ve divided the finalists into three categories: TK-5, 6-8 and 9-12! A grand, second and third place winner will be chosen for all three grade groups. Grand prize- $300 […]
We’ve decided to extend the deadline for the “Why I Love Visions” Video Contest! We’ve received great entries so far but we know everyone gets busy this time of year. If you were hoping to enter the contest but ran out of time or had technical issues we want to give you the chance to […]
Angel Gonzales needed a change. She was struggling with bullying in her public school and life at home wasn’t easy. Despite all of these challenges she was determined to not let her circumstances affect her future.
When she found Visions she felt like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She wasn’t afraid to go to school anymore, she could work at her own pace and she finally felt understood. Angel found herself enjoying her school work thanks to her teacher, Brandon Kim. The work was an escape and Brandon gave her suggestions for additional outlets including karate and UFC fighting. These activities gave Angel a release and instilled the confidence in her to tackle life without fear.
“I was really scared of being judged. My teacher would talk to me about what I’ve been through which is something that no one ever did for me. That’s what opened up the gates for me to succeed.”
This confidence also helped her pursue her singing career. Since the age of three, Angel has been performing. She sings in the choir, plays many instruments including the guitar and piano and has performed for thousands on YouNow, an online broadcasting site. Angel also sang at our 2016 graduation ceremony at the Memorial Auditorium.
After graduating from Visions, Angel traveled with her fiancé and found out that she was expecting a baby boy. She also trained to become a suicide text line counselor to help people that suffered from the same struggles she had faced. To further her career she is pursuing her Bachelor’s Degree in Cyber Security online at Grand Canyon University. She hopes to use her education and strong computer skills to eventually work for the CIA.
Angel is also actively pursuing her singing career. She is performing this summer at the California State Fair and plans to audition for the next season of America’s Got Talent.
“I’m thankful for Visions helping me escape bullying at my old high school and helping me graduate. I will forever appreciate you all!”
We asked Angel what she would tell current and prospective Visions students. These are her words of wisdom:
Visions is proud to share Angel’s success story and we hope it inspires current and future students. Watch her spotlight video below!
Chris Taylor wanted the freedom to manage his own schedule and the ability to focus on learning subjects that interested him, like robots. The typical public school model didn’t fit his interests or aspirations; he was looking for a school that would allow him to accelerate his learning and give him the time to focus on his passions including music, robotics, programming and fencing.
“I couldn’t stand the regular high school setting; the strict class schedules, waking up early for no reason, which many studies show is detrimental to teenagers. There were pointless homework assignments and they taught us ‘on rails’ instead of letting us innovate. There was a complete lack of appreciation for STEM, cliquey drama, and almost no free time.”
Once Chris enrolled with Visions, he felt free. He took community college courses that transferred over to UC Santa Barbara when he graduated, allowing him to get his prerequisites done early. Balancing his regular high school course work with community college classes was easy for Chris, and he credits this with helping him transition to university. He’d already built the skills needed to excel at Visions and didn’t feel overwhelmed.
Chris graduated from UC Santa Barbara at the top of his class. He briefly attended UC San Diego but moved on to George Mason University to pursue his Ph.D. He made the switch so he could work with the Naval Research Laboratory. Currently, he is working with the Navy on robot teams and programming them to understand their relative locations without using GPS.
What exactly does this mean? For example, during the Winter Olympic Games, Intel programmed drones that created shapes in the sky during a light show. The research being conducted by Chris and the Naval lab looks at similar programming to determine how robots can work together without hitting each other or interrupting their workflow. #HighTech
Chris is enjoying his time at George Mason University to figure out what he wants to pursue once he receives his Ph.D. He’s considering teaching or research for a specific industry or academia.
Visions looks forward to seeing what other great things Chris accomplishes in the future!
Visions In Education is continually looking for ways to improve our services for families and students. This month we added a new partner vendor to our online ordering system. Our Home School families can now order from BookShark! BookShark offers complete home school curriculum packages that include history, language arts, science, math, spelling and handwriting lessons. […]
Last month, Visions In Education and our Executive Director, Jody Graf, were honored with the Educational Leadership Recognition at the Russian-Speaking Community Partners Capitol Reception. This reception is organized by the Russian American Media and the Council for Cross Cultural Affairs and it is held to strengthen the relationship between the Slavic community and local […]
