11th-grader, Isabella Rios, known to her friends and family as “Bella”, is thrilled to be the 2020-2021 recipient of the PA Distance Financial Literacy Scholarship. 

Class of 2021 graduate, Valeria Balbuena, will be attending Millersville University this fall and majoring in Psychology. Her goal is to become a psychiatrist so she can help patients who are struggling with psychological disorders, and to further understand the connection between emotional and physical health. 

“I'm passionate about human behavior and I really want to learn everything about it,” Valeria explained. “I also want to study it because I wanna learn how to understand myself.” 

Other than her passion for psychology and study of the brian, Valeria enjoyed her Financial Literacy elective course with her teacher, Mrs. DeRoner, and believes it will help her in the future.

“My favorite class was Financial Literacy because it is one of the few classes we should all take. It prepares you for the future. I didn't know much about finances, loans, insurances, or how to use my money wisely until I took the class,” she said. 

“Now I feel more prepared to live by myself,” added. “I even thanked Mrs. DeRoner because this is one of the things I wanted to learn before graduating because this is important and without the knowledge, my life would be a disaster.” 

PA Distance Class of 2021 graduate, Dakota Burik, was honored with the Foundation Award at the PA Distance graduation ceremony for being enrolled since kindergarten. Along with his fellow classmates, Adam Patelunas and Josh McDiffitt, Dakota was recognized for being a student at PA Distance for his entire K-12 education - a total of 13 years. If you ask a PA Distance teacher, counselor, or even student, everyone would say that they know Dakota. 

Here at PA Distance, we work to unlock the potential that lies within our students so that can reach their personal best.