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.” 

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

Kylie Roupe, from Carmichaels, PA, enrolled at PA Distance when she was in 9th-grade and is closing out her high school career when she will graduate this coming Saturday. She plans to pursue college close to her hometown next year and has aspirations to join the medical field.

She looks back on her time at PA Distance and talks about how wonderful all of her teachers were, saying “They truly care about their students and their students' futures. They're always there to help if you need it and they're so understanding!”

“I always liked making our "Get to know each other" slides at the beginning of each year where everyone shares where they’re from, some of his/her favorite hobbies and some other information. We could also include a picture of ourselves if we wanted the students to see us.”

“Our teachers even did it, too,” she added. “It was great to get to know everyone.”

Kylie also looks back on her favorite classes while at PA Distance. While enrolled, she enjoyed Art, Psychology, Family and Consumer Science, Earth Science and Digital Photography the most.

“I love learning about space and different planets, and for Psychology I simply loved the class because it was interesting and my teacher, Ms. Petraglia, always made it fun. She's super understanding and kind.”

Kylie had a few parting words for future PA Distance students when it comes to getting their work done on time, saying, “If you are behind on assignments, always work on your assignments that are due the current school day first, and then worry about the late assignments. That way you don't fall behind even more on work.”

She says that, out of her entire experience at PA Distance, she will miss all of her teachers the most.