Student Spotlight: Cassidy Moulton
March 17, 2021
We’re excited to feature Cassidy Moulton for Virtual High School’s Student Spotlight Series this month!
Currently a full-time Grade 10 student at VHS, Cassidy actually got started on her online learning journey in Grade 7 with our sister institution, Virtual Elementary School. Cassidy started to feel uncomfortable in a traditional school environment as early as Grade 1, but she recognized that the anxiety was intensifying as each year passed. Finally, with the support of her family, she made the decision to switch to homeschooling and hasn’t looked back since! We admire her perseverance and are delighted to introduce you to this amazing young woman.
young puppy.
Born and raised in Ontario, Cassidy lives with her parents, two brothers, and their dog named Wonton (great name, right?) in Oakville. Wonton was originally part of a guide dog program! Cassidy fell in love with helping people and animals at a young age, so her mom had the brilliant idea to foster a guide dog. Once trained, guide dogs can be used to assist people who have vision impairment, mobility restrictions, seizure disorders, diabetes, and autism. Cassidy’s job as his foster parent was to get him used to the hustle and bustle of the world so that he could experience different sights, sounds, and smells. They went on many adventures, including trips to pumpkin patches, ice rinks, malls, soccer games, and grocery stores. Unfortunately, Wonton developed an allergy to his food and was no longer able to continue in the guide dog program. Luckily, once Wonton was released from the program, Cassidy’s family was able to officially adopt him. Now he’s living his best life with his best friend!
An avid learner, Cassidy’s favourite subject is geography:
“I have always been fascinated with Earth, and geography allows me to explore phenomena that I have never heard of or seen before. Geography also has many creative elements that allow me to use my imagination.”
Speaking of Earth and all of its wonders, Cassidy conquered her fear of flying in 2019 after 10 years of avoiding airplanes. She considers this to be one of her greatest achievements to date, and we hope that she’ll be able to plan a trip in a post-pandemic world soon! When the pandemic is over, she looks forward to visiting her grandparents again. Due to their higher risk factors for COVID-19, Cassidy has kept her distance from them for their safety:
“I constantly look back on the memories we made together, and I know that someday soon we will be able to make many more.”
After Cassidy graduates from high school in a few short years, she plans to attend culinary school. When she got her first cookbook at the age of five, she knew that she wanted to become a chef when she got older. She enjoys all cooking and baking, but her favourite dishes to make include crème brûlée, homemade pasta, beignets, chicken parmigiana, and risotto. If there are ever any leftovers, we wouldn’t object to a sampling session…
We also want to be sure to give a special shout-out to Cassidy’s mom for all of the hard work that she does as a nurse! There aren’t enough thanks in the world for her bravery in the continuing fight to save lives. Cassidy wants to share that her mom is her role model (now she’s ours too), and that she one day hopes to be just as caring and compassionate as her mom.
We are so flattered that a wonderful student like Cassidy chose Virtual High School for her education. We hope to continue to exceed her expectations for online learning:
some sunshine on
her canoe.
“I have benefited tremendously from taking courses at VHS. There are still some days where my anxiety likes to creep in my head, but with VHS I have the ability to not do schoolwork one day and take a much-needed mental health day without feeling like I missed out on anything. Every person that I have ever communicated with at VHS, be it the teachers or administrative staff, has always been kind and super helpful in answering any questions that I have, making me feel like they care about me and my well-being.”