Talking Points

This week is National School Choice Week. In our last podcast we spoke with Great River Connections Academy Principal and School Leader Jason Swinehart about school choice and what that means from the school’s point of view.   This week we wanted to get a parent’s point of view. In this week's episode we’re joined by Rose Lynn of Salem Ohio. In 2018 the Lynn family was among the first familie...

Great River Connections Academy is a tuition-free, full-time virtual public charter school that serves students in grades K-12 from all over Ohio.  In this episode of Talking Points, we discuss with GRCA Principal and School Leader, Jason Swinehart how students are engaged in the virtual classroom and what kind of student might benefit from this approach to learning. As National School Choice Week...

In March 2021, Pearson and Connections Academy released the results of a new opinion poll of US parents to gain insights into family living and learning during the pandemic. The survey revealed that 84% of dads said they became more involved in their child's education, and it was an experience they found "gratifying." With Father’s Day this weekend, we spoke with a local dad who is...

Maria Gilmour is a 7th grade Social Studies and Language Arts teacher at Great River Connections Academy. She joined the faculty at GRCA this year after teaching for 14 years in a traditional classroom. Maria shares a little about her transition from a traditional classroom to the virtual classroom, how students are engaged in an online environment and what are some of the factors that are critica...

RALI Ohio supports and promotes Ohio organizations that offer addiction prevention and education programs, as well as recovery services. RALI Ohio recently released a new podcast, moderated by Candace DeMatteis, focusing on the complex and interconnected issues of substance misuse and addiction, mental health disorders, and public children services in Ohio, all of which have been impacted by the C...

Because of the pandemic, Ohio's public schools, at one time or another, closed their doors leaving it up to teachers to engage their students remotely when they've never previously taught in an online environment. We discuss a collaboration Ohio Connections Academy has enjoyed for a few years with three universities in Ohio to provide education majors the opportunity to observe and work...