Kristy Fortney
Middle School Intervention Specialist
Bachelor of Education, Integrated Language Arts, Bowling Green State University; Special Education Certification, University of Cincinnati
Ms. Fortney has been at Ohio Connections Academy since the 2018-2019 academic year. As an intervention specialist, she supports students across all grades of middle school, helping them overcome their unique challenges, academic or otherwise.
One-on-One Support
One aspect of Ohio Connections Academy’s virtual learning environment has been especially important for Ms. Fortney. “One-on-one time,” she says without hesitation. “The one-on-one time they can spend with their teachers is the biggest benefit for students.” It enables Ms. Fortney to address each student’s needs in whatever way works best for them as individuals. Those kinds of personalized interactions are often less common in traditional brick-and-mortar learning environments.
Building Relationships
As a teacher at an online school, Ms. Fortney spends each day communicating continuously with her colleagues, by video, by voice, by email, and more. The relationships are not only productive professionally, but they’re also strong personally – “friendships I have built over the years,” she says.
Those many online relationships are reinforced throughout the year, Ms. Fortney explains, “every time we get together” in-person. Some of “my best memories at Ohio Connections Academy are the times I get to spend with my team at the in-person events,” she shares. “Those will always stay with me.”
The one-on-one time [students] can spend with their teachers is the biggest benefit for students.
— Ms. Fortney