BONNERS FERRY — On Monday, Jan. 14, Stephanie Childress, Advanced Opportunities Coordinator for region I/II, came to Bonners Ferry High School to speak to students about advanced learning opportunities.

In 2002, the Idaho Digital Learning kicked off their digital courses for grades 7-12 in an Idaho public school, giving students an opportunity to earn college credits while still in high school. Their advanced learning opportunities give students the opportunity to get a jump start on their career paths.

The courses provide dual credits, advanced placement, core curriculum, and elective classes to assist the students to either advance towards their career early, or take classes to discern what path they wish to pursue. Some may even qualify for early graduation or advanced college placement.

There is a scholarship program to assist with seniors that have completed at least five blended classes or online classes over the past two years in high school with the plan to attend advanced schooling.

“Each student must be registered by the Idaho Digital Learning site coordinator at their local school,” stated the website. “The site coordinator must complete and confirm each voucher with the Regional Coordinator. Voucher is for $50 of the $75 Idaho Digital Learning enrollment fee, and does not include Dual Credit tuition, AP exams, or textbooks. Voucher numbers are limited.”

The state has allocated $4,125 for every public school student in grades 7-12 to utilize in order for them to make those important first steps toward their postsecondary schooling goals.

Childress went into depth about the programs and scholarships offered, constantly answering questions from the audience. For example, the student has to be in grade level 7-12, but in order to go to the North Idaho College extension office to attend classes, they must be 16 years of age.

There are dual credit classes offered at BFHS, Spanish for example, that would help the student get ahead. An ‘overload’ is when a student has six credits during school hours, any additional credits must be completed outside school hours.

Over the 2017-2018 school year, more than 32,000 students statewide utilized the Fast Forward program, taking over 16,000 credit bearing exams and professional-technical certification exams. Through the Fast Forward program, students took more than 184,000 college credits.

The deadline to apply is 1 p.m. PST on Friday, Feb. 15, 2019.

For more information: https://learnmore.scholarsapply.org/fbol-scholarship/