Alternative Education

SPRINGVILLE — Rick Nordness is 17 years old, a senior in high school, the 2009 Sacramento Track Champion, and on his way to be a professional race car driver.

So when it came to his education, his parents had to be a little creative — a Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. school did not fit into his hectic schedule. Rick, who raced in the Jr. Drag Race League for 10 years and recently started racing a front-engine dragster car, needed an alternative education.

“Traditional high school wasn’t working. He was missing too many days,” said his mother, Cathy Nordness.

Home schooling was also out of the question, his mother said.

“He was heading into high school. There’s only so much I could teach,” Nordness said. “I realized I wouldn’t be able to teach him chemistry.”

Nordness said she started searching online and stumbled across Central California Connections Academy — a tuition-free online public school that serves students in grades kindergarten through 12th grade.

“Rick began attending Connections Academy in eighth grade after his racing career caused him to miss too many school days,” said Annie Drury, assistant account executive with Connections Academy.

“The family was seeking an option that would be flexible, while still providing quality curriculum and a structure. Connections Academy has allowed him to pursue his racing career at the fullest, while also landing straight A’s his junior year. He hopes to attend a school like Universal Technical Institute and pursue racing professionally.”

Last year, the school served 75 students in Tulare County and is expecting to serve more than 75 during the 2011-2012 school year, Drury said.

“It was perfect,” Cathy Nordness said. “It was flexible. He could work ahead a little if he had a race coming up. It has curriculum and teachers. Every class has a teacher and deadlines. As he’s done, he gets work checked off in order before taking a test. It’s based on California standards and he must take all required state tests, such as the 10th grade high school exit exam.”

Prior to beginning the program, Rick was also tested to determine his placement.

Nordness said she likes the “Live Lessons” offered — where the students can see the power point presentation or a chalkboard or white board on the computer screen.

“It’s like having a front-row seat in every classroom,” she said. “There’s weekly live lessons that are also recorded. If he is out of town or not available at the set time, he can do them later.”

With four classes this year, but with as many as eight on other semesters, Rick — who holds a 4.0 grade point average — has accumulated 22 credits and needs only 2.5 more to graduate, Nordness said.

Accredited by the School Commission of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, the school complies with public school testing requirements, uses online and offline assessments, parent interviews and regular follow-up evaluations through the year, and has teachers who are state-certified and available for students by phone, e-mail and in-person, said Joe Bakhos, teacher at Central California Connections Academy.

“Within our highly individualized learning system, our teachers know their students, and whether they need extra help or a new challenge,” Bakhos said. “Each student receives individualized instruction, including lessons tailored to that student’s academic strengths and weaknesses.”

For the Nordness, it was everything the family searched for and wanted.

“I was really surprised. There’s no different between a physical school where you get in a bus, go into Porterville High School and attend in a brick and mortar school and a virtual school — other than maybe the social aspect,” said his father, Jim Nordness.

Field trips and social activities are also available for the virtual-education students, Rick said, but he has not been able to take advantage of them.

“I’ve thought about real school a couple of times but then realize that wouldn’t work for me,” Rick said.

He’s also thought of the social aspect and what he might be missing out on, but then realizes his own racing world is his own social world, he said.

“I’ve met a lot of friends just racing,” Rick said.

Each race season begins at the end of February and goes through the end of October but racing has been a part of life since he was born.

“He inherited that from his father,” Cathy Nordness said. “His father used to take his own car to race cars at local tracks when he was young. When Rick was born, he was born with the bug. He went to his first race in Seattle when he was 18 months old and he seemed really excited.”

As an infant, the family lived near a race track and the roar of engines could be heard from their Seattle house. When he met Jim Murphy, a top fuel dragster, he was totally hooked into racing, his parents said.

“When he was 3, we went to the Bakersfield March — a huge nostalgic thing, and Jim Murphy talked to me and said he wanted to take him under his wing and teach him everything he knew,” Jim Nordness said.

From that moment on, there was no doubt Rick would some day race cars.
Rick got his first car when he was 7 and has been racing in a junior league, at speeds up to 80 miles per hour since he was 8.

In October of 2009, Rick got a new race car — a 1967 front engine dragster — he could start racing at speeds up to 160 miles per hour once he entered the next level of racing.

“We bought it built but we had him take it totally apart and rebuild it,” Jim Nordness said. “He was out there from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., all hands-on. Now Rick does all his tuning and maintenance after every race.”

It was an education he could not have had if he were involved in traditional schooling, his parents said.

“[Connections Academy] has been very positive and works for us,” Cathy Nordness said. “We have two other kids — Raquel and Brogan — who went through public school. They were in sports and cheer leading and clubs. But that wasn’t Rick’s thing. He had to get the racing bug.”

Rick, one of the youngest racers on the track, said he loves what he does and is glad there was an educational option for him. But because most racers his age are racing the slower street cars, Rick is almost in a field of his own — racing against older gentlemen, he said. And holding his own — recently winning his first NHRA race.

For more information on Connections Academy, call 800-382-6010 or visit www.ConnectionsAcademy.com.

Contact Esther Avila at 784-5000, Ext. 1045, or eavila@portervillerecorder.com.