Entries by Tom Tafoya

Visions Helps Student Turn Bad Situation into Success

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Picture of Gerardo Soto

Visions Helps Student Turn Bad Situation into Success

For some students a few missed assignments and a couple of bad test scores could lead to a feeling of discouragement and wanting to give up on school. Soon the assignments pile up and the test scores get lower while the discouraging voices in their heads get louder. Gerardo Soto, a then 11th grader, was stuck in a similar circumstance when he came to Visions In Education from a traditional school setting. “Even though I did well in tests I couldn’t stay focused on my homework,” says Soto, “I looked at my life and I was partying and not concentrating on school. I knew that what I was doing in my life wasn’t going to be enough and I needed a change.”

At Visions, Soto worked with caring teachers, administrators and counselors that helped him navigate through his educational goals. “In my previous schools I had some good teachers but the personal attention I got here was amazing,” says Soto, “[The teachers at Visions] were able to understand me and so help me better.”

Soto’s teacher and administrator were able to identify that he needed stern structure to succeed. They recommended that he look into the Grizzly Youth Academy, a five-month residential program run in partnership with The California National Guard in San Luis Obispo. The structure, routine and tough love administered at Grizzly Youth Academy helped Soto get his education in order.

Soto initially found it hard to spend all his time in a strict routine, sharing his space with 40 other recruits. “[At Grizzly Youth Academy] it was hard at first,” says Soto, “After the first week I actually wanted to quit but I talked myself into staying and I am really glad I did. I knew that when I finished it would all be worth it.”

He overcame his initial apprehension and realized that the structure was exactly what he needed. The initial irritation of sharing his space with others soon turned into a much more enriching experience. “Everyone in your platoon becomes like your family and my Sergeant helped me with good [almost fatherly] life advice.”

As he continued his studies in the Grizzly Youth Academy, his teachers and mentors from Visions continued to support him through his journey. “Every time I would meet someone at Visions I would ask myself, ‘why do they care so much?’” Soto picked Administrator Shannon Alward as his mentor and she stood by him through all his struggles at the Grizzly Youth Academy. Despite the rigid structure of the academy Alward and Soto wrote letters to each other and Alward took frequent trips to the academy in San Luis Obispo. “I can’t believe she drove all the way down,” says Soto, “Some other kids’ mentors didn’t always show up but mine lived the farthest away from the academy and she always showed up. I am so grateful for her.”

Alward says that the long trips that she took from the Sacramento area to San Luis Obispo were tedious but the joy of seeing Soto encouraged from her visit was well worth it. “Everyone says that he is so lucky to have me as his mentor but I feel like I am the lucky one.”

Gerardo has now completed high school at the academy and is looking forward to taking some community colleges and hoping to get into the army. “Gerardo is a great example of the fact that at any time you can change your story,” says Alward , “You just have to take a risk.”

Alward says that when students are willing to take that move towards success the Visions team will step in to help students in every step of their way. “We are a team of people helping each student achieve their version of success,” she says, “We wanted Gerardo to succeed whether it was here at Visions, back in traditional schooling or at The Grizzly Youth Academy. We, at Visions, want to do that for all of our students. If they set their minds to it we will support them in any way we can.”

Bobby Truskey takes field trip to local radio station to explore his dream

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Picture of Visions Students and Staff at Radio Station

Visions Student Explores His Dream at Local Radio Station

On April 20th, Visions’ student Bobby Truskey toured the CBS radio studios to get a good look at how the radio industry works.

Bobby has long had an interest in radio and currently runs a bi-weekly radio show on the web. Scott Marsh, long time CBS employee, who works a variety of jobs at the station, including radio host and sales manager, walked Bobby throughout the studio, which supports four different stations, including Sports Talk 1140 and KNCI 105.1.

Bobby got to meet and talk about a career in radio with several different local radio hosts and got a great picture of how the field is changing. Scott left Bobby with a swag bag full of Sacramento Kings and other memorabilia on his departure.

Visions Student is Honored with Day Named After Her

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Visions Student Kayla Elwy and her Family

Visions Student is Honored with Day Named After Her

This March 5th onwards the day will be called Kayla Elwy Day in Clayton Calif., a small town in Contra Costa County. Elwy, a senior in Visions in Education, received this honor as a result of winning the Girl Scout Gold Award. This is the highest award in Girl Scouting. This award is given to an elite group who embody community leadership.

Elwy was recognized for creating a community service project that cheered the hearts of senior citizen with her music. She set up 11 singing events at two assisted living facilities in her town and she mentored 80 other Girl Scouts girls into joining her. These girls, ranging in age from 6-12 years old, learned popular show songs to sing for the seniors. The songs include classics like, “My Favorite Things,” “We’re Off to See the Wizard,” and “Anything Goes.” Elwy arranged all the songs herself with the help of her project mentor and voice teacher of 13 years. Following the singing Elwy and her scouts help the seniors make music-related crafts.

“It has been such a joy to see the seniors singing along with us,” says Elwy, “The songs bring back good memories for them and the young scouts love being involved.” Colleen Elwy, Kayla’s mother, says that it was amazing to see how after a few visits the seniors were eager to see Kayla and the girls.

Colleen says that being a part of a school like Visions enabled Kayla to achieve this community service project . “Since she was part of Visions she has the flexibility with her school work and she was able to do more of the things she wanted to do,” says Colleen. She also states that of the five members in Kayla’s group she was the only one who was able to complete the tasks to qualify for the Gold Award due to leniency of her schedule.

With this flexible school schedule Kayla says she is grateful to be a part of community leadership project where she was able to touch the lives of so many. “This experience has been really rewarding and I have established wonderful relationships with many people of all ages,” she says, “And I am really excited to be getting a day named after me. It is a great honor.”

Visions Alumni & Prodigy Featured on “Child Genius” Show

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Visions Student on Child Genius Show

Visions Alumni & Prodigy Featured on “Child Genius” Show

It isn’t often one finds a child that lights up over getting a graphing calculator for Christmas but Tanishq Abraham, a former Visions In Education student, is no ordinary child. He started taking college classes at American River College at age seven, the youngest person to attend since the school began keeping records. He tested in the 99.99 percentile on I.Q. exams when he was four and has been a part of Mensa since. He also participated in Lifetime Network’s reality television show “Child Genius,” in which 20 gifted children compete over eight weeks for the title of “Child Genius 2014” and a $100,000 college fund.

Tanishq is a rare package of unusual intelligence wrapped in childlike innocent charm. Aside from the calculator his Christmas list included a book on quantum mechanics and an Ebola lab. Yet Abraham believes in Santa: “I very strongly believe in Santa,” he says with a very firm tone. His mother, Tajji, says that he had even tried to program software to try to track Santa.

Tajji says she knew right from infancy that Tanishq was unique. She realized when he was three and a half months old that he could point to the right answers for questions she was asking about the storybooks read to him. When he was two years old he was doing kindergarten and first grade math.

“When it comes to the social aspect Tanishq is just like any other child, happy-go-lucky,” says Tajji, “But intellectually he was very different. He was very observant and learned concepts in above average speed.”

The Abraham family realized quickly that traditional schooling did not provide Tanishq with the ability to exponentially grow at his pace. ”He was getting very tired of the formal learning system and needed more freedom,” says Tajji, “This is when we found Visions and he loved it.”

The Visions style of learning allowed Tanishq to learn at his pace and soon he was enrolled in American River College as the school’s youngest attendee. “My goal is to have my Ph.D. by the time I get my driver’s license,” Tanishq told the audience during the first episode of “Child Genius.”

Aside from his passion for academics, Tanishq has also taken interest in singing. He was training in the San Francisco Boys Chorus, a prestigious Grammy award-winning concert chorus. He has sung the national anthem at many athletic venues including at San Francisco Giants and Oakland A’s games.

The result of his intellect, talent and hard work has been a lot of national and international media attention. Tanishq has appeared on “The Queen Latifah Show,” spoke at a TED conference explaining the exoplanets and supernovas he has already discovered and climate change. He is also the youngest poster presenter and speaker at a NASA conference in NASA Ames.

Despite all this attention Tanishq is pretty focused on his goals of excelling in academic discovery and making a difference in the world. “The great thing about Tanishq is that the attention doesn’t get to his head,” says Tajji “He is too focused about inventing something or learning more.”

Tajji states that she is very proud of Tanishq and his nine-year-old sister Tiara, who is also a gifted student, for not just their intelligence but their character. “[My husband and I] are proud that they are intelligent kids but above all we want them to be good human beings,” says Tajji.

Tanishq points out that when just one of his goals is to cure cancer it is evidently hard to get caught up in the media attention. He says that he wants to put his intelligence to good use and make a difference for the world. “I want to be President of the United States, doctor and a scientist,” he says. “I just want to make this world a better place.”

Students, Families and Staff Enjoy Annual Harvest Festival

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Student roping a bull statue at a Harvest Fair

Students, Families and Staff Enjoy Annual Harvest Festival

Laughter, joyous chattering and little feet frolicking through carnival style games were the sounds heard at this year’s Visions In Education Harvest Festival events. The two day event was hosted in Pleasant Hill and Fair Oaks. More than 500 students and parents attended the Pleasant Hill event and nearly 1000 came to the event at Fair Oaks.

“The Harvest Festivals provides an opportunity for our Home School families to come together as a community to network, make new friends and share common interests while having a great time and experiencing activities similar to a traditional school setting,” Said Nancy Peterson, event and field trip coordinator.

Children delighted in the candy, prizes and about 30 games available at the festival. “The Harvest festival is always fun whether we are doing pumpkin decorations, games or crafts,” said parent Aurora Haynes, “It is important to have fun activities like this for homeschoolers. My kids always have a good time.”