Most students around the valley are finishing up the school year from home due to COVID-19, but that’s nothing new for Whitefish High School senior Jacob Bailey. After being home-schooled up through the start of high school, Bailey started at WHS during what would have been considered his sophomore year.

But the transition, and the individual efforts it took, wasn’t quite as simple as showing up at the high school on the first day of 10th grade.

Bailey completed the majority of his education at home, teaching himself lessons from textbooks. In ninth grade, he started attending a “home-school high school,” where home-schooled students met once a week in-person and completed lessons at home for the rest of the time.

When he eventually started at Whitefish High the following year, he expected this comprehensive background to serve as sufficient preparation, but he was surprised to find the credits he expected to earn didn’t transfer to the public school. As a result, he said, “I had to take high school in three years, essentially.”

Bailey, who described himself as “pretty independent,” wound up having to cram in all the classes his classmates had previously taken in order to graduate “on time” with the rest of his age group. He took a few courses online and filled up his already-busy schedule with all of the requirements, which he admitted was “a lot of work.”

But it was worth it for the multi-sport athlete in order to participate on WHS sports teams —including basketball, baseball, soccer and his top priority, cross-country.

Athletics were the main reason Bailey opted to attend WHS after so many years of studying at home, and he credited these activities with helping him stay organized and on top of his school work.

He also reported his lifetime of group sports made the social side of the transition to public school much easier than many people might imagine. Since he had already been playing on teams with many of his WHS classmates for years, Bailey remembers having a relatively easy time fitting into the social scene at WHS when he first started.

But he explained the classroom structure was a bigger challenge for him following a lifetime of independent study.

“It was different,” he recalled. “It was a little overwhelming.”

Up until 10th grade, Bailey was used to acting as both teacher and student, individually instructing himself in lessons out of textbook. So he said the experience of being instructed by a teacher in a classroom setting was “the most new part of the whole experience.”

It was also an adjustment for him to spend all day, every day at the school, learning at the pace of all the other students. Bailey pointed out home schooling can be a bit of double-edged sword, because students have to wrestle with unfamiliar concepts by themselves, but they also have the opportunity to go at their own pace and skip over concepts that come more quickly to them.

While it was definitely a change to come into the public classroom setting, Bailey also insisted, “you can ask any home-schooler, it’s not all that different.”

He would know, too, because he has four siblings who continue to teach themselves from home, and they don’t seem to have any plans to follow in their brother’s footsteps. Bailey admitted he’s been the victim of more than a little teasing at the hands of his siblings for veering off the traditional home school path, although he stated, “I’m pretty sure I’m happy with the choice.”

As for his Whitefish High peers, Bailey said he didn’t feel like he is in a more experienced position to deal with the COVID-19 home school situation, since the setup of virtual learning is significantly different from the individual educational style he was used to before coming to WHS. “It’s new to me, too,” he said.

But it’s clear Bailey doesn’t shy away from new experiences, a trait sure to help him out in the next stage of his educational career. This fall, he’s headed off to Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California, the alma mater of both of his parents. He plans to study mechanical engineering, run cross-country and participate in ROTC before joining the U.S. Army after college graduation.

He is well aware that college is sure to be unlike anything he’s experienced so far, but the flexible student said he’s looking forward to trying yet another new experience. “I’m excited about that … the adventure of it,” he said.

Reporter Bret Anne Serbin may be reached at (406)-758-4459 or bserbin@dailyinterlake.com.