By JAMES BELL
Hays Post
VICTORIA—Homeschooling remains a popular choice for millions of American parents each year, however, for some, the choice to oversee a child’s education at home is not feasible.
One Victoria woman believes she has a solution that gives students the flexibility needed to achieve their goals, provides support and instruction to students looking for the benefits of homeschooling, and takes the educational burden off of parents.
Wildfire Education is essentially a homeschooling service, where kids can come and do their online schoolwork instead of going to school, said owner Jacy Klaus.
“There are a lot of parents who'd like to homeschool their kids, but they can't because either they don't think their kid has the self-control to make themselves sit down and do their work or they just don't have the time or just can't homeschool.”
Through the service, students receive one-on-one instruction on a flexible schedule.
“A lot of them still need that,” Klaus said, “and that's why a lot of parents don't homeschool.”
Having flexible lessons and schedules can also help provide more opportunities for practical education.
“Eventually, we will do things like taxes, buying home insurance, health insurance. These are things that a lot of us wish we would have known before we got out into the real world,” Klaus said.
Career planning is also central to the Wildfire Education mission.
“Our high school kids will have the opportunity to work and have a part-time job or a project that is keeping them busy because their schoolwork is no longer going to take the entire day,” Klaus said.
For older K-12 students, having the ability to enter the field prior to high school graduation can be beneficial as it provides work-study opportunities that would otherwise be filled with time in classrooms, she said.
“I've learned that they would rather just do the learning and get it done,” Klaus said, “and then they want to work.”
“When you're in high school, you just want to be an adult. They want to work. They want to have money in their pockets. They want to think about their future careers, and I'm wanting to help them with that.”
Tapping into the self-guided nature of homeschool programs, she said, can also be valuable.
“Studies have shown that homeschooled kids are more successful in college and their careers than public school kids,” Klaus said. "I think it's because the kids, I feel like, learn more about themselves and learn more how they work and how to be productive.”
While the business is new, Klaus is likely a familiar face to Victoria's parents after serving as the agriculture teacher at Victoria High School for the last six years.
She said her time in the district gave her first-hand experience with what high school students face in traditional classrooms.
“I've been working with those kids. That eight-hour school day doesn't work for them,” Klaus said, “especially in the last couple of years. I just kept thinking, ‘What would help them?’”
She found by providing an alternative educational service, students can get the education they need while giving time to exploring other pursuits, allowing students that may otherwise struggle with an avenue to succeed in a traditional educational setting.
“We do still have kids that have good work ethics. We do still have kids who are eager. I feel like we're almost taking that away from them,” Klaus said.
The process
For parents and students looking to take advantage of the services at Wildfire Education, Klaus said the first step is a consultation that presents the educational options for the students.
From there, she helps guide the parents through curriculum programs.
While work on the Wildfire Education building is ongoing, enrollment has begun. She said she plans to cap the student count at 12.
Students can be current or new to homeschool curriculum.
For those working through a program already, she works with parents to support learning in a subject the student has difficulty with.
More information about the programming and contact information for those interested in their services can be found on their website, wildfireedu.com.
The extras
While previously homeschooled students in Kansas were sometimes barred from participating in extracurricular activities in public school districts, the Kansas State High School Activities Association is working on implementing a law passed this year by the Kansas Legislature that allows students within the district to take part in sanctioned activities.
“Now homeschooled kids are more than welcome to play sports or be in clubs,” Klaus said.
Through Wildfire Education, students will be able to participate in social activities as well.
“They can kind of work together and do some of the fun things that they would normally do at public school that they can't do in homeschool, like make Valentine's or Christmas cards,” Klaus said.
With the Victoria location, she said students from the area could take advantage of the service.
“I feel like Victoria is a central location,” Klaus said. “I live here, and I feel like a lot of my kids are going to come from here. It's just central and easier for everybody to meet at instead of in town.”
As the business is unique, she hopes the idea can spread across other rural communities.
“That's kind of why I named it Wildfire Education because I want it to spread like wildfire,” Klaus said. “I want to help other communities or other people bring this to their community so that they can help their kids, especially rural communities.
“We are a hotspot for those kinds of kids that need the time outside the classroom.”