OCA graduates

More than 300 graduating seniors received their high school diplomas this past weekend as members of the Ohio Connections Academy Class of 2018. Approximately 220 of the graduating seniors travelled to Columbus from more than 60 Ohio counties to participate in the online charter school’s traditional commencement ceremony in Battelle Hall at the Greater Columbus Convention Center.

“While our school offers a non-traditional approach to education, we take a great deal of pride in offering our graduates a traditional commencement ceremony so they may celebrate with their families, friends and teachers,” OCA Superintendent Marie Hanna said. “Every year the faculty and staff at Ohio Connections Academy like to celebrate the hard work, determination and focus that each of these students demonstrated to reach this academic milestone. We appreciate the opportunity that we had to work with all of them individually and we are confident that each student is ready to tackle whatever challenges lie ahead.”

The Class of 2018 is the tenth graduating class for the state’s leading provider of high-quality, tuition-free virtual education for students in grades K–12. Of this year’s OCA graduates, more than half indicated they plan to attend a two or four-year college/university including The Ohio State University, University of Akron, University of Cincinnati, Cuyahoga Community College, Hocking College, Miami University, Sinclair Community College, Ohio University and Youngstown State University. Twenty of the graduates were members of the National Honor Society while more than 100 graduated with honors (3.5 GPA or better). Overall the Class of 2018 has received more than $1.7 million in college scholarships and awards.

Douglas Ritchie, Camden and Rader Robertson, Camden are among Ohio Connections Academy’s Class of 2018:

Ryen Lilli

A record 1,510 students received undergraduate degrees from the University of Dayton during the spring commencement ceremony Sunday, May 6, in University of Dayton Arena, including Ryen Lilli of Eaton.

Madison Wright

Madison Wright, Eaton, majoring in Biology, was named to the Provost List at Saint Francis University. Wright was among the more than 800 students named to the Honors Lists for the Spring 2018 semester. To be named to the Provost’s or Dean’s Honors Lists students must have full-time status and attain a quality point average of at least 3.8 (Provost’s) or 3.5 (Dean’s) for the given semester.

Stephanni Smith

Stephanni Smith, of Eaton, was named to the Dean’s List at Capital University for the spring 2018 semester. In order to be named to the Dean’s List, full-time, degree-seeking students must have achieved a grade point average of at least 3.5.