“You don’t socialize in cyber school.  How can you?  It’s just you and your computer all day!”

Does this sound familiar to you?  If so, you’ve most likely found yourself on the defense, explaining to friends and family that your beloved cyber school choice does involve a community and social learning experience.  At 21CCCS, one of the most frequently asked questions our enrollment team fields from prospective families is, “What opportunities are available for my child to socialize?”  We explain that it is true that 21CCCS provides an asynchronous, cyber learning environment, which means we do not require students to log into classes at any specific time of day. However, our students come together for lots of things! We’ve developed many ways to offer social outlets for our students.  Let me share a few.

1.) Community Outreach Events

These events are held throughout Pennsylvania on a weekly basis and are attended by our teachers, students, family members, and friends. Students are often given a chance to work on schoolwork and tutoring for the first half of the evening. Then, they are given time to play games, meet with their friends, and get to know their teachers. Next month we have cooking class on the calendar.  Don’t miss it!  The schedule for these events is posted weekly in Moodle and if you have any questions, ask Ms. Hoyt, Mr. Kinsch or your learning coach.

 

2.) Field Trips

Our field trips are most often educationally minded opportunities for students to come together and share a common learning experience.  Ms. Elder and Mr. Chu work to schedule and organize the trips on a monthly basis.  In the past we have ventured to Philadelphia, Gettysburg, and the Carnegie Center. Smaller scale field trips have been scheduled to welcome students back to school, or to celebrate the end of the year! If you have ideas for new field trips, let us know! We are happy to explore and schedule new visits.

 

3.) Clubs

21CCCS offers a variety of cyber clubs each year. We change them when needed, depending upon the interest and needs of our students. In the past, we’ve had a Literary Magazine, Radio-Drama Production, Chess Team, Debate Team and Photography Club. Be sure to ask your learning coach about club opportunities, and if one doesn’t exist that fits an interest, we will work with you to create it.

 

4.) Live Class and the the Virtual Office

Live class and the virtual office are a great way to reinforce learning materials. But, they are also a great way to get to know teachers and classmates and where most daily socialization happens at 21CCCS. Through one click on the computer,  our cyber community is transported to a virtual room full of fellow teachers and classmates, and the learning and discussion opportunities are endless.

 

The power to get involved and socialize lies within each one of our students at 21CCCS. We believe that socialization in our cyber school is thriving, growing and most certainly possible!