Ohio Virtual Academy Class of 2012 Offered over $1.5 Million in College Scholarships

COLUMBUS, Ohio, June 12, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Ohio Virtual Academy (OHVA), a tuition-free online public charter school for students in Ohio, honored its 2012 graduates during a ceremony that took place at The Palace Theater in Columbus this past Saturday, June 9. The graduating class is one of the brightest in school history, and amassed a total of over $1.5 million in college scholarship money offered.

The ceremony was planned by a committee of graduating seniors and featured a speech from Valedictorian Jenny Wu, who is only 15 years old. While completing a rigorous school curriculum, Jenny maintained a 4.05 GPA, taking honors and advanced placement courses.  She is graduating a year early after participating in the Peer Mentor Club, Cardinal Chirp Newsletter, Creative Writing Club and an award-winning mock trial group. Jenny is an accomplished writer, with books published in the U.S., U.K. and Canada and has participated in animation camp at UCLA, writing an original web comic. 

Salutatorian Marley Wilder also addressed the crowd during the graduation ceremonies. Marley plans to attend John Carroll University and has been accepted into the school's honors program. Her interest lies in business/marketing. During high school, she was secretary of the National Honor Society, played softball, volunteered at a food pantry in Cuyahoga County and also worked part-time.

"We're proud to celebrate the hard work and accomplishments of each of our graduates," said Jay Wollenburg, Principal at OHVA. "OHVA is more than just a top-notch school; we're a community. Our teachers work to motivate students academically while building up their character and commitment to excellence in all that they do. During the graduation ceremony we recognized not only the achievements of the students and teachers, but also the encouragement and support of their families, who directly contributed to crafting such an amazing program."

Dr. Mark Thogmartin of Millersport, a former administrator for OHVA, also provided remarks to the students during the ceremony. Dr. Thogmartin, now retired, was with OHVA since the school opened in 2002 and has worked as a K-12 educator for over 30 years.

Some of the colleges chosen by this year's graduating class include:

Arizona State University
Ashland University
Baldwin-Wallace College
Bowling Green State University
Brigham Young University
Cleveland State University
Colorado Christian University
Columbus State Community College
Concordia College
Cuyahoga Community College
Denison University
John Carroll University
Kent State University
Lorain Community College
Miami University of Ohio
Ohio University
Ohio Wesleyan University
North Carolina State University
Roanoke College- Virginia
Sinclair Community College
The Ohio State University
University of Akron
University of Cincinnati
University of Colorado
University of Dayton
University of Findlay
University of North Carolina
University of Toledo
Wilmington College
Wittenberg University
Wright State University
Xavier University
Youngstown State University

About OHVA

OHVA is a full-time, online public charter school serving students in grades K through 12. As part of the Ohio public school system, OHVA is tuition-free, giving parents and families the choice to access the award-winning curriculum and tools provided by K12 Inc. (NYSE: LRN), the nation's largest provider of proprietary curriculum and online education programs. For more information about OHVA, visit www.k12.com/ohva.

SOURCE Ohio Virtual Academy