MARCH 2025 NATIONAL NEWS

Ready to show everyone the “reel” you? The Reel Me Competition opens for submissions on March 12, 2025.

To enter, submit a video about your K12-powered online school experience that fits one of this year’s themes:

💻 My K12 Why: Tell us why you love online school and what motivates you to keep learning.
💭 Myth Busters: What do people get wrong about online school? Debunk it for us!
✈️ Flex Your Schedule: Show us how K12-powered learning gives you more time for the things you love.

🎓Future Focus: Got big plans after graduation? Share them with us!

Winners in each grade band will receive up to $250 in cash prizes!

Visit https://enrichment.k12.com/reel-me to learn more and submit your video!

Registration is now CLOSED for the K12 National Cook-Off.

Stay tuned for the announcement of the five finalists from the K12 Cook-Off on April 2, 2025. Finalists will be notified via email.

These finalists will be invited to compete in-person at the Kitchen of Purpose in Arlington, VA, on June 6, 2025, for a live cook-off battle!

Meet the K12 National Cook-Off celebrity judges!

Chef Isabell Coss

Chef Adam Hoffa

Cash prizes will be awarded to the 1st place and People’s Choice winners!

Public voting takes place July 23 - July 29, during which any individual may vote up to once per day.

Learn more by visiting: K12 National Cook-Off - K12 Enrichment

The First Round Qualifier wraps up on March 3, at 11 PM ET. During this time teams completed grade specific challenges in RVG. The top 10 teams from each grade band are eligible to compete in the Second Round Qualifier opening March 24 - March 31.

Second Round Qualifier: Opens on March 24 for qualified teams from the First Round Qualifier. Between March 24 - March 31, qualified teams will complete new, grade specific challenges in RVG. The top 10 teams from the Second Round Qualifier are eligible to compete in the in-person, Final Round on June 3, 2025!

Should you have any questions about the K12 Robotics League, please send an email to competitions@k12.com

For more details please visit: Robotics Competition - K12 Enrichment

The K12 National Competiton Student Winners website highlights the national winners from previous K12 competitions. Watch all of the excitement and help celebrate these incredible achievements!

Visit:Competition Winners Homepage - K12 Enrichment

How does an elephant born in the wild make its way to Tennessee? Join Us for a Virtual Field Trip to The Elephant Sanctuary and hear the story of one of our resident elephants. Experience the wonders of The Elephant Sanctuary in this live, interactive session tailored for K-12th-grade students. Learn about elephant biology, behavior, and conservation through engaging activities and meet the individual elephants themselves. Sign up today for an unforgettable educational adventure! Open to all students in grades K-12.

Date/Time: March 5, 2025, at 4 PM ET

Click here to register!

Join us on an exciting K12 Virtual Field Trip to the Wild Animal Sanctuary in Keenesburg, Colorado, where students will embark on a journey to learn about the sanctuary's inspiring mission to rescue and care for wild animals. This interactive session will cover the incredible stories of animal rescues, the dedicated care provided to these magnificent creatures, and the pressing issue of the Captive Wildlife Crisis. Students will gain a deeper understanding of the importance of wildlife conservation and the efforts being made to protect these animals. Get ready for an educational adventure that brings the wild right to you!

Date/Time: March 13 at 3 PM ET

Click here to register!

Get ready to make a splash in the world of North American river otters while learning about our residents! Hang out with a Clearwater Marine Aquarium biologist as we dive into otterly amazing facts about their swimming skills, hunting tactics, and social otter-tainment in the wild.

Date/Time: March 19, at 2:30 PM ET

Click here to register!

Join us with educator extraordinaire Carolyn as we get a look at the amazing insect and arachnid ambassadors at the Missoula Butterfly House and Insectarium! We will meet some truly awesome bugs in this engaging program and learn about how they impact our world.

Date/Time: March 24, at 3 PM ET

Click here to register

Want more from the K12 Virtual Field Trips? Check out the K12 Virtual Field Trips Newsletter to watch past virtual field trips, learn about upcoming virtual field trips, and sign-up for future ones!

Virtual Field Trips | Smore Newsletters or visit Virtual Field Trips - K12 Enrichment

Get ready to unleash your creativity in the K12 Minecraft Room to Read Build Challenge! From February 12th to April 2nd, K12-powered students in grades K-12 are invited to submit their reading or book-related Minecraft builds just in time for National Reading Month! Show off your building skills and your love for books!

One winner per grade band (K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12) will receive a $25 Amazon e-gift card for their winning build!

Don't miss this exciting opportunity to combine your passion for reading and Minecraft. Start building and submit your entry today! K12 Room to Read Minecraft Challenge

🏰 Welcome to Castle World in the K12 Zone! 🏰

Get ready to explore Castle World, a magical kingdom filled with royal castles, secret gardens, medieval libraries, jousting arenas, dragon caves, and more! For the entire month of March, Castle World will be available in all K12 Zones, offering daily opportunities for adventure and discovery.

🕯️ Each day, a new castle-themed riddle will appear—can you solve them all? Visit the K12 Zone every day, crack the daily riddle, and you’ll be entered into a raffle each Friday for a chance to win one of four $25 Amazon Gift Cards! The more riddles you solve, the more entries you get.

🌟 Explore the throne room, peek into the royal dining hall, uncover treasures guarded by dragons, or get lost in the garden maze. The castle’s secrets await—will you be the one to unlock them?

Click to Check It Out!

The K12 Esports League Spring season playoffs are underway! Who will be crowned champion?

Tune in from February 24 - March 14 to watch the K12 Esports playoffs livestreaming on Twitch.

Check out all the playoff action streamed LIVE on: www.twitch.tv/stride_esports_league

Cheer on your fellow K12 Online School students and watch some incredible gameplay!

For more information, reach out to a staff member at your school and ask about the K12 Esports League.

Do you love being on camera, have a flair for social media, and bring main character energy to your passion projects? We want to hear from you!

K12 is now seeking applicants to serve as the first-ever Chief Student Officer—a part-time, paid position for a high school student aged 14–18 currently enrolled in a K12-powered school. If you have big ideas and want them to be heard, don’t shy away from this chance! A $5K bonus will be awarded upon successful completion of the appointed CSO term. Apply today!

📢 Podcast: Career Exploration Series Part 3: Tech Trek

The IT industry is booming, and jobs in cybersecurity, coding, and networking are in high demand. But how do you break in? Join us for Part 3 of the Career Exploration Series: Tech Trek, and get the inside scoop!

Explore tech career pathways, discover the latest IT innovations, and get real-world advice from industry professionals and young tech enthusiasts.

📅 Date: March 14th

⏰ Time: 3PM EST

🔗 Register Now: https://bit.ly/theconfidentteentechtrek

If you’re thinking about tech, this is for you! 🔥

🎙️Podcast: Nursing Explorers: Volunteerism on the path to Nursing: Tips for Gaining Valuable Skills

Thinking about a career in nursing? It starts with caring for your community!

Join us on March 12th to learn from Kim Pinter, Director of Volunteer Services, about how volunteering can help you gain hands-on experiences and confirm your interest in healthcare before ever stepping into a classroom.

📅 Date: March 11th

⏰ Time: 6PM EST

🔗 Register Now: https://bit.ly/nursingexplorerpodcastmarch

Start your nursing journey today - one act of service at a time!

Help us tell the story of your great students and families! Please send this around to your staff and encourage them to put stories into Elevate, Stride/K12’s media gathering tool. Stories can be anything related to:

• Students who are athletes, scientists, students who have their own businesses, authors, etc.
• Students who use your great schools to overcome the odds – illness, bullying, etc.
• Families who are school advocates and would be great discussing what you do with the local media.
• Any cool school events – Capitol Day, field trips, etc
• Themes – anything around national days like Hispanic Hertiage Month, MLK, Mental Wellness Month (Jan.) Black History Month (Feb.) Reading Month (Mar.), and more.

There are no wrong answers so send us your stories and help us promote your students today!

Register for this upcoming session by clicking here.

We are excited to launch our SY 24-25 LC Mental Health Series in partnership with the Cook Center and ParentGuidance.org. Intended audience is all parents and faculty are welcome to attend as well. This is the last session for the SY 24-25.

The multievent registration page for the school year is located here:

Webinar-Mental-Health-Series-Cook-Center-Sessions.pdf (widen.net)

We are excited to announce the Learning Coach Community is now open! The Learning Coach Community is a one-stop-shop online community available to ALL K12 Learning Coaches. In the community, LC's can receive support (either as a returning or first-time LC's), access resources for students, find tips and tools for online school, and more. Ready to connect with other families learning from home?

Go to community.k12.com to get started!

Stride is partnering with school and national leadership to define a new, higher bar that goes beyond measuring satisfaction alone. We are excited to expand our Thriving Pulse Check (previously Teacher Pulse Check) to include all school staff to promote four key elements of thriving: Leadership, Collaboration, Agency, and Growth.

This survey is anonymous and deployed each September, February, and May to empower you, your leadership, and Stride with information to open the doors to healthy and meaningful conversation that promotes the key elements of thriving.

Should any questions or concerns arise, please reach out to your direct supervisor.

We are so excited to announce we have a Stride K12 Student Engagement Instagram Channel! You can find us @k12.student

This channel is meant to share about student engagement opportunities, as well as showcase student talent and elevate student voices to feel seen and heard! This channel is for our students to follow and connect with one another, as well as see what fun things we have happening!

You can also follow us on Threads! Our Threads account is a light-hearted channel sharing positive messages, joke, and K12 national competitions and virtual field trips events. You can us find at k12.student. Follow us today!

Follow us on Facebook! The K12 Student Engagement Facebook page highlights exciting competitions, challenges, and national student winners. You can also watch live-streams of winner reveals and K12 Virtual Field Trips. You can find us at K12 Student Engagement. Follow us today!

Stride is partnering with the American Public University (APU), a higher education institution that provides affordable, high-quality, workforce-relevant, online education, to offer all K12-powered school graduates a 10% off tuition grant - bringing the cost to just $315 per credit hour for undergraduates on over 200 online degree and certificate programs.

APU delivers flexible, affordable education with monthly start dates to connect you to your future faster and provide the skills you need to go further.

• $0 cost textbooks/ebooks for undergraduate classes
• $0 application fee
• No entrance exams

Students can request more information from APU at https://apupartners.com/stride

Wondering when your course materials and hardware will arrive? Look no further! You can find your school’s shipping timeline by following these steps:

1. Visit the School Shipping Timeline Directory: Head over to the School Shipping Timeline Directory to locate your school’s specific shipping schedule.
2. Search by State: Use the directory to search by state. Find your state, and you’ll see a list of schools along with estimated delivery deadlines for course materials and hardware.
3. Track Shipping Status: If you’ve already confirmed your enrollment status, click on the link provided in the directory to track the shipping status of your materials and computer equipment.

Remember that if your school isn’t listed in the directory, allow approximately 7-10 business days after courses have been assigned for your order shipments to arrive.

If you need help with the Online School, Materials, or need to troubleshoot a technical problem, try out the new AI Assistant on help.k12.com! The AI Assistant can help you by popping relevant articles and videos to answer your questions and fix common issues.

Did you know you can text a live Customer Support agent for help with questions about Materials and replacements? Text your Student ID to 800-255-2020 Text Messages may vary. Data rates may apply. Click here if you need help looking up your Student ID