PA Cyber Charter School Graduates Diverse Class of 2008

            List of 662 graduates published by county, hometown



    MIDLAND, Pa., July 17 /EMWNews/ -- From a conservatory bassoon major

to a tattoo artist, the 662 members of the PA Cyber Charter School Class of

2008 demonstrate the diversity of students who choose an online education.



    Dr. Nick Trombetta (http://www.pacyber.org/about/trombettaBio.aspx),

CEO of the Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School, said their choice of an

online public school is one of the few traits common to all PA Cyber's

graduating seniors. The statewide list of graduates by county and hometown

-- from Aaron, Dustin, of Punxsutawney in Jefferson County, to Zimmerman,

Anne, of Leesport in Berks County -- is available at the school's website

http://www.pacyber.org/news/gradlist.aspx.



    Aaron, who attended the school's western commencement exercises June 7

at Pittsburgh Petersen Events Center, plans to enter the workforce.

Zimmerman crossed the stage at eastern commencement June 12 at The Forum on

state capitol grounds in Harrisburg. She will be a freshman next month at

Liberty University at Lynchburg, Va.



    As each graduate walked up to receive a diploma and shake the hand of

Dr. Nick Trombetta (http://www.pacyber.org/about/trombettaBio.aspx), a

speaker announced his or her parents, hometown, and future plans.




    -- Shelly Mohr of Schwinksville has been accepted into the Boston

       Conservatory of Music, where she will major in bassoon.

    -- Alyssa Wack of Troy plans to get a job and perform volunteer ministry

       work for the Jehovah Witnesses.

    -- Harrison Wargo of Marshall Township is a musician whose band, "Morning

       Light," has a CD album set for release and currently is on tour.

    -- Jessica Sow of Milford is headed to New York City to attend film

       school.

    -- Brittany Bowman of Reading is already working at Wizard World Tattoos,

       where she is apprenticing in body piercings.



    Dr. Trombetta (http://www.pacyber.org/about/trombettaBio.aspx) said he

often is asked why students choose cyber school over a traditional

brick-and-mortar education. He said there are as many reasons as there are

students, but generally speaking, students and their families choose cyber

because an online education offers something not available from their local

school district: opportunity to either catch up or accelerate academically,

flexibility of daily schedule, safety from bullies and bad influences, and

course offerings like Mandarin Chinese language and epidemiology.



    Elite athletes such as ice skater Jessica Koller of York -- who has

signed a contract to tour in Europe for a year with Disney On Ice --

selected PA Cyber in order to pursue a rigorous training schedule while

going to high school. Koller's mother said they are a middle income family

and buying ice time for practice at the local arena is less expensive on

weekdays when other children are in school.



    The U.S. Air Force Academy was more than pleased with the academic

credentials of twins Benjamin and Samuel Rinaldi of Coraopolis, who will

join its top-rated fencing team and hope to qualify for the next Olympics

while majoring in engineering at the service academy. Two USAF colonels

attended western graduation ceremonies to officially present academy

appointments to the Rinaldis.



    Dr. Trombetta (http://www.pacyber.org/about/trombettaBio.aspx) said

their dreams are as interesting and diverse as the students themselves.




    -- Emily Signore of Forksville is going to nursing school and wants to

       become a midwife.

    -- Nicole Kesler of Montrose will study racehorse training and equine

       dentistry at the University of Louisville, Ky.

    -- Gilbert Bailey of Rockwood will attend the CSX Railroad Education and

       Development Institute in Atlanta, Ga.

    -- Dana Schwanke of Whitehall will attend Lehigh Carbon Community College

       on scholarship after graduating two years early.

    -- Lauren Rachelle Staley wants to work in an orphanage in a developing

       country after earning a degree from Indiana Wesleyan University

    -- Samantha Mendez will study molecular biology at Grove City College .

    -- Cameron Davis will begin union training to become a heavy equipment

       operator.

    -- Scott Fiero of Ludlow is enrolled in Pitts' Bradford campus with the

       goal of becoming a state trooper.

    -- Marrico Holyfield of North Braddock is apprenticed to the carpenters'

       union.

    -- Nick Pasqual of Mt. Lebanon is headed to Hollywood to become an actor.

    -- Mari Lynn Vaughan of Cecil Township will study classical ballet with

       Ballet Magnificat of North Jackson, Miss., the world's first Christian

       praise ballet.

    -- Corey Young of Trees Mills is going into the Army and wants to be an

       infantry officer.

    -- Sharan Mehta of Downington will go to Bryn Mawr College on scholarship

       to study chemistry.

    -- Amelia Cecelia Kernan is moving to Serbia and plans to learn culinary

       arts while traveling Europe.

    -- Daniel Ortiz of Landisville will begin his study of neoclassical guitar

       at the Pennsylvania Academy of Music.



    "We wish each of our graduates good luck on their life's journey,

whether they are headed to an Ivy League college or taking a year off to

find themselves," said Dr. Trombetta

(http://www.pacyber.org/about/trombettaBio.aspx). "By graduating from a

cyber school, they have already shown themselves to be lifelong learners in

an information technology age."



    PA Cyber (http://www.pacyber.org) is the largest of Pennsylvania's 11

cyber charter school with a 2007-08 school year enrollment of 7,500,

including students from 478 of the state's 501 school districts. A public

K-12 school available tuition-free to any state resident, it opened in 2000

and graduated its first class of 17 seniors the following spring.