Student Success Stories - Kaylee Burlingame
Background
Kaylee Burlingame, 17, is a senior at The Keystone National High School and a member of the National Society of High School Scholars. The oldest daughter of a U.S. Army major and his wife, Kaylee was born in Frankfurt, Germany, but has lived all over the world with her family. Kaylee went to traditional brick-and-mortar public schools until 5th grade. After that, the family began homeschooling, and now, Kaylee attends high school online and plans to graduate in 2011.
While Knoxville, Tennessee is the town Kaylee most recently called “home,” the teenager moved with her family this past summer to Denver, Colorado. Normally, a move to a new post every couple of years would also mean a change in schools. But because Kaylee goes to Keystone, an online high school, she is able continue her studies without missing a beat. Going to school online also allows Kaylee to pursue her passion of serving her local community – whatever her community may be – with volunteer work.
“Because we move regularly, I make an effort to become involved in our local community,” Kaylee explains. “This includes volunteer work, membership in the Regional 4-H association and other extracurricular activities in the area.”
Kaylee’s community efforts were recognized this year when she won both the 2010 AETC Youth of the Year Award, as well as the command center’s Air Force Youth of the Year award in Washington DC. The award program is conducted in conjunction with the Boys and Girls Clubs of America’s Youth of the Year Program to recognize teens for outstanding contributions to a member’s family, school, community and the Boys and Girls Clubs.
According to Robert Richert, director of Youth Programs at the Gunter Youth Center, which coordinated Kaylee’s nomination: “Over the past three years, she has done an outstanding job as a teen leader and has provided support to our youth programs in many ways.”
Self-paced learning using familiar technology and tools
When asked why she chose to go to school online, Kaylee, who has grown up as part of the iGeneration of students, exclaims, “I love being on the computer! It is much more flexible and I can concentrate on each subject for a longer period of time.”
In addition, online classes enable Kaylee to volunteer for many organizations because she can set her own schedule. Some of her volunteer activities offline have included serving as president of the Keystone Club’s Gunter Phantoms; organizing the Treats for Troops program for airmen assigned to the base over the holidays; preparing care packages for patients at the veterans hospital and deployed soldiers; and helping organize her local chapter’s 4-H Centennial Celebration and local food bank drives, among other philanthropic activities.
Being able to learn and study at her own pace are big advantages for Kaylee, who maintains a 3.7 GPA. She explains, “I enjoy the opportunity to go at my own pace and to have more class options, such as Japanese.” Kaylee believes the ability to reference her books and teachers at any time of the day, as well as to meet students from around the world, are other key benefits to going to school online. “And I can do my schoolwork in pajamas,” she jokes.
Interesting courses, engaging online instructors
Kaylee takes a full load of classes, including requirements for graduation as well as Advanced Placement® courses and electives. She especially enjoys Social Sciences and Japanese, and hopes to become a Japanese interpreter for the military someday.
While she says it can be challenging at times to not talk to her teacher in person, she finds her teachers more than accessible online. “It is very convenient to be able to email, call or contact my teacher at any time during the day. My Japanese teacher has to be my favorite so far. When she sends feedback, she sends whole paragraphs on how I did, how I can improve and how proud she is of my work. I also enjoyed my Digital Media teacher because he was very patient when I didn’t understand something or I had a problem with one of my HTML codes. He was always enthusiastic and fun in all of his feedback, and I always looked forward to what he had to say.”
When she graduates from Keystone National High School in 2011, Kaylee hopes to attend the Air Force Academy and to study English and Japanese. In the future, she aspires to become a lawyer and an interpreter for the military and someday to open her own firm.
