(NAME-MCE) New online school caters to gay students

[Anselmo Villanueva]

New online school caters to gay students

Minnesota educator David Glick says the online high school he founded
for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students is an environment
free of hostility. GLBTQ Online High School is believed to be the
first of its kind and is receiving applications from across the
nation. Glick says the curriculum will be "GLBTQ-friendly," but some
worry online schooling may create a feeling of isolation among gay
students.

Mission

The GLBTQ Online High School will provide a safe and welcoming
educational community that provides a high quality, comprehensive
college-preparatory online high school experience for students who are
gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or questioning their sexual
orientation or gender using the best technology and techniques of
distance education.

Vision

    * The school will provide a safe, high quality, alternative to
traditional high schools.
    * The school will enhance its educational program with community
outreach, parent support, social opportunities and a variety of online
clubs and interest groups.
    * The school will be global in reach with an American-style
college preparatory curriculum.
    * The school will utilize new and ever-changing technologies to
enhance and improve the learning and support experience for all
students.
    * The school will address a wide range of student needs through a
variety of support services and social opportunities.
    * The school will provide a variety of scholarship opportunities.
    * The private, tuition-based school is a non-profit organization
that supports and works with many other organizations in the GLBTQ
community.

Information: glbtqonlinehighschool.com

http://www.twincities.com/allheadlines/ci_12994208?nclick_check=1

Gay-friendly online high school believed to be first of its kind

The Maplewood-based program has applications from students across the
country and faculty from around the world.

By Lien Hoang    lhoang at pioneerpress.com

08/05/2009 08:55:27 AM CDT

Brooklyn Suchy was in sixth grade when she wore her Gay Straight
Alliance shirt for all to see: "GSA, like it or not, I am what I am."

It was at a restaurant in Newport where her shirt drew the ire of a
group of girls. They called her names. They shoved her. And then they
locked her in the restaurant's bathroom.

"Others don't accept people who want to be who they want to be," said
Brooklyn, now a ninth-grader at Crosswinds East Metro Arts & Science
School. The 15-year-old Landfall girl considers herself bisexual.

Those were the kinds of stories that prompted one local educator to
begin an online high school catering to students like Brooklyn. Named
the GLBTQ Online High School, it is based in Maplewood and believed to
be the first of its kind. (GLBTQ represents gay, lesbian, bisexual,
transgender or questioning.)

Other online schools exist, as do bricks-and-mortar schools that serve
gay students. But the Minnesota program is the first to combine the
two features, according to the International Association for K-12
Online Learning.

It is the brainchild of David Glick, the first online learning
coordinator at the Minnesota Department of Education.

He has received applications from students across the country and from
faculty around the world.

"We may not bring people closer physically — but we will in every
other way," Glick said. "We want to make them feel more confident
about who they are."

The online nature of the school allows it to
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reach young people wherever they have Internet access — especially in
rural areas, whose smaller populations makes a physical version of his
school impossible, Glick said.

It also removes gay students from potentially hostile school
environments and places them in what he touts as a "safe and welcoming
educational community." Instead of facing bullies every day, students
would be learning with other students who understand their concerns.

But some fear this arrangement would further alienate teenagers already at risk.

"The danger of the online high school is that kids will stay isolated
and feel uncared for," said David Johnson, who teaches social
psychology at the University of Minnesota.

"It would be much better to have these kids in a regular high school," he said.

Glick brushed aside such criticisms, countering that "most online
teachers get to know their online students better than face-to-face
because they interact with more individuals."

Curt Johnson reaffirmed Glick's assertion, saying his findings
"overturned the conventional suspicions" of the online classroom. He
is a managing partner at Education Evolving, a joint venture of the
Center for Policy Studies and Hamline University that promotes
technological progress in schools.

"The individual transactions of e-mailing and telephoning regularly
creates a relationship between students and teachers," said Johnson,
who believes online schools will outnumber their physical counterparts
by the year 2017.

Brooklyn Suchy is familiar with online schools. Her sister was
enrolled at BlueSky Online Charter School in West St. Paul. While she
believes her sister became more distant afterward, Brooklyn would
still consider enrolling at GLBTQ Online.

"I see my friends quite often, so I wouldn't become anti-social," she said.

Brooklyn liked the idea of Glick's project because it brings together
teenagers with common experiences.

"I'd feel comfortable because I'd know people who have gone through
the same stuff," she said.

Glick hopes to open the school's virtual doors in January, when it
will offer an accredited high school diploma and courses that meet
national criteria.

The curriculum will differ from that of traditional schools, he said,
in that it will be more "GLBTQ-friendly." That involves abolishing
negative messages and highlighting gay, bisexual and transgender
people in history.

Teachers will interact with pupils and provide instruction through
videos, chats, graphics and other multimedia, as well as occasional
phone calls. Some portions of a course will occur in real time, but
for the most part, students work at their own pace, year-round.

While gay, bisexual and transgender high school students are the
target audience; people of any age and sexual orientation can enroll.

"There's no other school we can look to as a model," Glick said.
"People ask us, what's the research behind this? We are the research."

Lien Hoang can be reached at 651-228-5480.

ON THE WEB

For more information on the new the GLBTQ Online High School, check
out its Web site at glbtqonlinehighschool.com.

BY THE NUMBERS

5,900 - Cost of one year's tuition, in dollars

520 - Cost per course, in dollars

50 - Minimum enrollment for school to launch

24 - Student applications to date

100 - Staff applications to date