Monday Message

Learner Spotlight: Shayna Hewitt

iLEAD Exploration 8th grade learner Shayna Hewitt has the perfect motto to bring gratitude front and center in her life: “Not every day is a good day, but there’s good in every day!” Bravo, Shayna, for finding a way to be thankful even on the crummiest of days.

Shayna is truly thankful for the flexibility and freedom homeschooling allows her to pursue her interests and passions on a deeper level. Her hobbies include drawing and painting, studying nature, enjoying nature walks, cooking and baking with her chef mom, and acting in Shakespeare plays.

Shayna adores all things Japanese. She loves anime and manga, sushi, Japanese culture, artwork, fashion, and language. She is currently learning to speak and write in Japanese, and her chef mom is teaching her to make Japanese recipes. They recently made sushi together. One day Shayna hopes to visit Japan.

Shayna enjoys hanging out with friends and family and is a voracious reader with a huge library of favorites that include the Harry Potter series, Pride and Prejudice, Shakespearean drama, Greek mythology, and the Warriors series.

Other interests of Shayna’s include gymnastics, piano, guitar, ukulele, learning French and Spanish, helping with younger kids at church, babysitting when she can, and earning money with jobs around the house and for others.

Learner Spotlight: Montalvo Family

The Montalvo learners count their blessings on both hands. First and foremost, 12th grader Andrea is thankful for her family. She describes her family as “always being there for each other.” She goes on to say, “They are my number-one fans; they encourage and support me in everything I do.” One of sixth grader Danny’s favorite things to do is hang out with his family. He is so thankful for the close bond they have. Danny says the greatest thing about his family is that “We are loving and caring, and we do everything together. I especially like our dinnertime.”

Andrea is grateful for all the opportunities presented to her in life. She enjoys and appreciates being homeschooled because it gives her time for her extracurricular activities. Andrea is a gifted musician and plays bass in her church’s band. In Andrea’s free time, she likes to paint and listen to music. Something Andrea does well is baking, and she especially enjoys people’s reactions when they try her food. This school year she is learning two new skills: photography and guitar. Andrea’s favorite food is a Mexican delight called mole. This sweet and spicy sauce is usually poured over chicken, but Andrea prefers to eat it wrapped inside a tortilla like an enchilada. Andrea is enjoying learning how to play ukulele and memorizing some of her favorite songs. One day Andrea hopes to be a business owner.

Sixth grader Danny is thankful for being homeschooled. He loves that he can make his own schedule and review work that he didn’t understand the first time. This is Danny’s second year with iLEAD Exploration. Since he began homeschooling, he has been able to dramatically improve his math skills. He also enjoys all the science experiments he gets to do with cool subscription boxes. Like his sister, Andrea, Danny is a great musician. He loves playing the drums and hopes to be an amazing drummer when he grows up. He also wants to be a computer engineer and a professional artist. When Danny has free time, he likes to play video games with his friends and build with Legos. Danny is a really good dancer and artist. Danny enjoys his Jr. Robotics with Legos class he is taking and will soon be a master at coding!

Learner Spotlight: Ruotolo Family

The accomplished and active Ruotolo family keep themselves busy in all areas of their lives. Twins Tye and Kade are eleventh graders at iLEAD Exploration, while younger sister, Nya, is in the fourth grade. The family has appreciated the flexibility of iLEAD Exploration’s model for two years because it allows them to school on the go with their busy schedules.

Tye and Kade know hard work and effort are sure to pay off, and they work toward growth in their sports, academics, and pretty much anything they become involved in. These dedicated young men drive from Huntington Beach to San Diego several times a week to train for jiujitsu and travel worldwide to compete. They are among the top jiujitsu competitors in the world, and their necks loaded with medals show that they have won many competitions. They remain committed to training because they know with hard work, they can always improve.

Kade and Tye love to surf, fish, and travel when they’re not doing schoolwork or training in their sport. A desire to teach and support other kids has led them to spend time teaching anti-bullying seminars for kids at their jiujitsu tournaments. They’ve also taken an interest in learning Portuguese this year to help them when they travel around the world for their many tournaments in Portuguese-speaking South American countries.

Like her brothers, Nya is always eager to learn new things. She is a very hard worker and ambitious with her passions. She has followed her brothers into jiujitsu but also loves gymnastics, skateboarding, and horseback riding. She has really enjoyed learning how to ride and care for a horse this semester. She’s interested in being a veterinarian or physical therapist in the future. Nya also models and performs in commercials in her free time.

Learner Spotlight: Judah Barr

iLEAD Exploration learner Judah Barr has a favorite quote: “Fight the fine fight” and to him it exemplifies how we should approach struggle in our lives. When faced with difficulties, you may want to give up but if you stick it out, you come out stronger and better equipped for challenges that may be ahead.

Embodying both the spirit of his motto and the growth mindset, Judah is hardworking and dedicated to his school work. He is always looking for ways to prepare himself for his future. He has developed his own car washing business and has done a great job building his clientele. Judah is also gifted musically and has chosen to develop his talents further by taking acoustic and electric guitar lessons as well as voice classes. This really has really helped him become a better all-around musician. For fun, he plays music with a group of friends, and they call their band, “Kicc.” Judah enjoys playing rock, blues, classical music, and he has written a few songs titled, “People’s Dream” and “I’ve Never Known.”

Judah desires to be a business owner and has joined iLEAD’s CTE Entrepreneur Pathway Program. He hopes to gain skills in this class to help him create a business that creates websites for small businesses. He plans to learn coding and take digital design courses to prepare himself. As you can see, Judah carefully makes decisions and always keeps his future in mind. He is always looking for ways to better equip himself for his very bright future.

In his second year at iLEAD Exploration, Judah has impressed his EF by his maturity and by coming well-prepared for their meetings. Judah achieved all A’s in his freshman year. He is driven to perform well academically and also has a heart to serve the community. Judah is very involved in his church and has done volunteer work there.