The Bearcat Institute of Learning and Development (BILD) offers students and families opportunities to balance their learning with hobbies, homelife, etc. The flexibility our program provides helps support the needs of our Huntingdon Area School District students. Check out some of their stories!
Meet Leila F.
Hi! My name is Leila F. and I am a junior in BILD at the Huntingdon Area School District! I usually start my day by waking up around 7:30 am and going down to my barn to take care of my six horses. This usually entails sometimes cleaning stalls (depends on if I did them the night before), soaking their feed, topping waters off, bringing them in, and tossing hay into their stalls. Then I head back up to the house and eat breakfast and do my morning routine. After all of this,I start my schoolwork. What schoolwork I do all depends on what I feel like doing and when it is due. A lot of my schoolwork is due the next Monday. After I get some schoolwork done,I usually let my dogs outside for a bit and then I change and go down to get the mail and go to the barn to ride my horses. Out of my six horses, four of them are my competition horses and the other two are retired. The four horses I ride and compete regularly with are Gryffin, Wink, Rosie, and Milo.I ride them probably 4-5 days a week and we work on different exercises to strengthen their muscles and to work on different things we need to work on. After I finish riding,I usually give top off on their hay and water and give mom’s horse Zanzabee, her medication.If it’s after 4,I’ll usually feed them their dinner and take care of them before I go back up to the house. Once they are all finished being taken care of and I’m back up at the house,I may do more schoolwork before I do my nightly routine and go to bed! I’ve been taking a few months off from competing since I switched trainers, but now in November, I’ll be starting to compete again. When I have competitions,I just do my schoolwork accordingly so then I can focus on competing. BILD is great if you want a more flexible schedule to do your sport or if you’re working!
Meet Briar R.
Through my experience with BILD so far, I have set a routine and follow it weekly. I wake up at 8:00 a.m. and go downstairs to make and eat breakfast. After I have breakfast, I begin to start my school work. On Monday of every week I write my classes, the current grade, and the assignments posted for the week down on a paper and begin doing work for my classes and I estimate to have at least two assignments done per class a day. After I have my work done I then get my football bag ready and get ready for football practice. I go to practice Monday and Thursday until 5:45 P.M. and Tuesday and Wednesday until 6:30. Then, after I come home I will have dinner with my family and once I’m finished I will then use my extra time after football to do a few more assignments to get ahead of the game. After I am done with football and work for the day, I go downstairs and grab a snack and socialize with my family. After I finish every assignment I check off which assignment I have completed. At the end of the week on Friday I go over all of my work and make sure everything is checked off and I also refer back to the class modules to make sure nothing new was posted. I do this same exact routine to balance my school and life balance every week and also so I don’t miss anything and I can stay more organized and focused.
Meet Sean C.
Being a BILD student in the HASD allows us to be flexible with his schedule, and provides opportunities to “take his classroom with him.” We take a lot of family trips, and having his classes be virtual has given him chances to stay on top of his schoolwork and still get the external experiences, like visiting the Grand Canyon.
Sean starts his day getting dressed for school. We’ve been virtual since First Grade and found that getting “ready for school” each morning, helps get the day started. While breakfast is getting ready, he knocks out his Rocket Math. Sean enjoys doing that early on because it feels more like a game, than a regular lesson. It also allows him to really work at his own pace, which is a big plus.
We take a breakfast break which carries us into the early Zoom sessions for read along and Language Arts, or on our way to SouthSide! The rest of his day is relatively flexible, with Zooms and his classwork. We tackle ELA, Math, Science and Specials in the order that he wants to take them on. Being able to change it up helps Sean feel in control of his learning environment. There are always exceptions, but he’s usually done with his work for the day by 1 or 2 o’clock.
On Monday and Wednesday Sean goes into SouthSide. This gives him opportunities to engage with other kids his age and make new friends. Going to campus also provides him the structure that comes from in-person learning, during Specials and Gifted. This has become his new favorite thing to look forward to. He’s still home a little after 1pm and we go over how his day went. Once everything is done for the day it’s out the door to play with his friends once they all get home from school, too!