Student Spotlight: Jonathan Swindell 2019 Valedictorian

Student Spotlight: Jonathan Swindell 2019 Valedictorian

We were asked to write a bit for this blog after my son Jonathan became the valedictorian of Everest Academy this May 2019. I honestly don’t know where to begin, but I’ll start when he was in kindergarten and it became obvious that he was not learning to read as quickly and easily as his classmates. We decided to homeschool him after that year, and let me tell you, we tried everything to find him the help he needed. Many of the programs we tried did not help, so we would try another. It was painful to see him struggle to read, write, spell, and complete math problems. We poured so much time and energy into loving Jonathan and trying to give him the education he so desperately wanted but that his learning struggles made difficult. When he was in those elementary years, we would often take him and his two younger sisters on many field trips so that he could learn by doing and enjoying.

We found a dyslexia program at a school that helped him greatly during his 3rd and 4th grade years, and then we found ourselves needing to homeschool again. I think the character quality that helped so greatly was our determination. Both Jonathan and I continued to work hard and never give up. We enrolled Jonathan in a program for eye therapy for over a year a little later, and there was continued progress. From that time on, he was able to complete pretty rigorous assignments with my support, encouragement, and editing. He finished two years of a classical education program in 9th and 10th grade which really helped with his writing, reasoning, and rhetorical skills. After that, he decided to begin dual enrollment classes at the local community college. Again, this required support, but it became clear that Jonathan was coming into his own. He surpassed me and his dad in his math skills and in so many other ways during those years.

With all of our documentation of his learning disability, Jonathan was given accommodations on the ACT, and he worked extremely hard on his practice tests and tutoring sessions. The second time he took the test, he achieved an overall 31, which qualified him for the full tuition scholarship at UAH, which was his goal. Ironically, he scored his best on the reading section of the ACT, in which he made a 34! The little boy who struggled so hard to learn to read all those years before had almost aced the reading section of the ACT. We were so proud and grateful.

Jonathan is now attending UAH in the Honors College and plans to major in either computer science, math, or some type of engineering. Before he started his freshman year at UAH a few weeks ago, he completed Calculus 3. The boy who had such trouble doing elementary math because of his learning differences had pushed through to achieve an “A” in Calculus 3!

I’m hoping that Jonathan’s story is encouraging to some of you who may struggle. Dyslexia and other learning differences are real, and they are such an obstacle. Through hard work, determination, and the grace of God, Jonathan was able to push on through these to overcome and achieve more than he ever thought he could. We wondered when he was little if he would ever attend college. (And it would have been fine if he had not!) He was able to keep trying and reach his potential, which he continues to do to this day. By the way, the learning struggle has not gone away. He still needs the support of electronic books, extra time on tests, and help editing his spelling and grammar. Again, my goal in writing this is not to glorify myself or Jonathan. I hope it is an encouragement that it is worth it to keep trying and trusting and not give up. Whatever your potential, it can be reached. Everyone has a gift, even when it is hard to find through the struggle! Don’t give up.