Eden Balances Figure Skating, College Coursework and a Space Trek STEM Mission 

For West Virginia Virtual Academy (WVVA) student Eden, there is rarely such a thing as an ordinary school week. 

The rising junior is a competitive figure skater who is on the ice five or six days a week. Eden is also an ambitious student with a strong interest in math and science who is already taking college-level coursework while still in high school. 

This summer, those interests took Eden to SpaceTrek, a two-week, hands-on STEM experience where she helped build and launch a device into the atmosphere, collect data, and present her team’s findings. 

Skating, school and, STEM may seem like three demanding worlds to balance. For Eden and her mom and Learning Coach, Robyn, WVVA helped make room for all three. 

Finding a School That Could Keep Up With Eden 

Eden enrolled at WVVA at the beginning of 10th grade. By then, the demands of competitive skating had made a traditional school schedule increasingly difficult. Competitions required Eden to miss class, and her family struggled to find a suitable arrangement with her local school. 

“Some of the competitions that we were missing school for, they were coming out as unexcused absences and there really was no way around it,” Robyn said. 

Robyn knew they needed another option, preferably one that offered flexibility without giving up teacher interaction or academic structure. 

“We looked into WVVA and liked that it was no cost to us, and it followed our county’s guidelines,” Robyn said. “We really liked the idea of having an interactive lesson versus being completely self-paced. It has been helpful for us on days when Eden’s at the rink because then she can log in later and do her coursework, and if she’s home during the day, then she can attend the live sessions.” 

That flexibility means school can move with the realities of training instead of constantly competing against them. 

Flexibility Without Putting Academics on Hold 

A flexible schedule was important to Eden’s family, but so was making sure she could continue challenging herself academically. 

Math and science have always been strengths for Eden. She took Algebra 1 in eighth grade, doubled up on math courses during ninth grade, and continued progressing through advanced coursework. 

At WVVA, another academic opportunity emerged: dual enrollment. 

Through dual enrollment, Eden began taking college coursework as a sophomore. Heading into her junior year, she plans to take four classes through Pierpont Community & Technical College. 

For Robyn, that early access became an important part of the family’s experience. Although changing schools meant making some academic trade-offs, dual enrollment allowed Eden to begin college-level learning earlier than she would have been able to through her local school district. 

More importantly, WVVA staff were paying attention to where those interests might lead. 

A WVVA Connection Opens the Door to SpaceTrek 

One of those staff members was Jeremy Greene, WVVA’s Career Readiness Coordinator. 

Because he had worked with Eden and her family on her academic planning, he already knew about her strengths and interests. When an opportunity fit for a STEM-minded student came across his radar, he reached out. 

“It’s all due to Mr. Greene,” Robyn said. “We really appreciate him and he’s been very helpful to us the whole time we’ve been involved with the school.” 

Eden applied and was one of 24 young women selected to attend. She took the leap and stepped away from her usual routine to see where the opportunity might take her. 

From STEM Concepts to Launch Day 

At SpaceTrek, Eden got to dive into hands-on experiments alongside a team of other high school students with similar interests. 

Eden said the first week was spent mostly in the classroom learning about the science behind the project the students would create. 

“We had to learn about the components of what we were creating, and we had to make this device that we sent into the atmosphere so we could measure the temperature,” Eden explained. “Our mission statement was to measure the temperature of the atmosphere up to five kilometers.” 

During the second week, Eden and her team began building their project. Their device used a thermistor, a component whose electrical resistance changes with temperature, to help measure atmospheric conditions. 

Toward the end of the program came one of the most exciting moments, launch day. Each team attached its device to a weather balloon and launched it into the atmosphere to collect data. 

Afterward, Eden and her teammates analyzed the information transmitted by their device. 

“We would translate the data we collected into temperature so we could know what the actual temperature was, and then we would turn that into altitude so we could know if we met our mission statement,” Eden said. 

On the second-to-last day, the teams presented their findings to the other groups. 

For a student who already gravitated toward math and science, the experience turned those interests into something tangible in the form of a device she could build, data she could interpret, and findings she had to communicate. 

From Robyn’s perspective, what stood out was just how comprehensive the experience was. 

“They took them through all the steps from learning the scientific parts of the mission and planning the mission to the physical building of the components,” Robyn said. “From start to finish, they did it all.” 

Finding a Community Beyond the Rink 

Spending two weeks away put Eden alongside students who shared many of the same academic interests. For someone whose everyday community includes people she knows through figure skating, that was meaningful. 

After building, launching, and analyzing their projects each day, some of Eden’s favorite moments were when she could spend time with her fellow SpaceTrek members.  

“By the end, they all had gone through so much together in two weeks that they developed a lot of good friendships,” Robyn said. “It was just a great experience all around.” 

The experience gave Eden another community to be part of, one built around a shared interest in STEM. 

Making Room for More Than One Dream 

Now, as Eden heads into junior year, figure skating remains a major part of her life, but so does her interest in STEM. She plans to continue taking college-level courses through dual enrollment while pursuing her goals outside the classroom. 

Eden’s story shows what flexibility can mean when it is paired with academic opportunity and educators who know a student well enough to recognize where her interests might take her. 

WVVA didn’t ask Eden to choose between being a serious student and a serious skater. When an opportunity arose to try something completely different, she had room to say yes to that, too. 

Is West Virginia Virtual Academy the Right Fit for Your Student? 

Learn more about how WVVA helps students build an education around their goals, interests, and future.

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