18-year-old finds success with online school while traveling and showjumping horses

IDAHO FALLS — An 18-year-old that loves competing and showjumping horses was able to fulfill her passion, all thanks to the flexibility of online school.

Libby Wagner of Idaho Falls just graduated from Inspire Connections Academy in June. It’s an Idaho online public school that is K-12. The district office is based in Boise and covers all of Idaho.

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“The whole program is really great. They are super adaptable to everybody’s schedule. If you do fall behind, they are super great about helping you get caught up and making sure that you are doing the best you can,” Wagner said.

Wagner said she moved to Idaho Falls when she was about 12 years old from Tennessee. She didn’t start riding horses until she was in high school.

“When I moved here, my neighbor had horses and I feel like I was always interested in horses but it was never something that I really got into. She recommended some places to ride and then I ended up with Parkwood Equestrian and everything kind of took off from there,” Wagner explained.

Wagner started to progress with riding horses. Meanwhile, she chose online school because it was a good option for her.

“There’s a lot of travel for horse shows and I wanted to get pretty competitive. Then, I was also pretty new to Idaho Falls at the time and I was struggling a little bit to integrate so online was kind of the perfect option,” she said.

Typically, competitions last for a week or a little longer. She has traveled to different places for competitions like California, Arizona, Washington, Oregon and Montana.

“Idaho Falls is pretty small so we have to travel pretty far, which is what makes the online school so nice,” she said.

Her mother, Stephanie Wagner, added that she felt the school was extremely supportive.

“I have another child that is doing high school through them now and they are good even if you are not traveling like Libby needed. But they are very supportive, well organized and well run,” Stephanie Wagner said.

Eva Polizzi with Inspire Connections Academy said there are teachers across the state and it’s a great option for a lot of different kinds of students.

“Students who maybe just didn’t fit in great at a brick and mortar school, students who like Libby, are athletes and have a different schedule that they need to adhere to or students who just want a different kind of challenge,” she said.

Polizzi worked with Libby Wagner and said she is a great example of the kind of student that comes to the school.

“We are flexible but we still offer a program full of rigor and opportunity that lets students interact with school on their own schedule and still kind of do cool things,” she explained. “Libby was great to work with. There were times where she had a really busy schedule last year between her competitions and her senior year coursework and I had the utmost confidence in her and I knew she could get it all done.”

Wagner is headed to South Dakota State University and will compete on the equestrian team. She has plans to major in mechanical engineering and then work on getting into law school.

She is excited for the opportunities she has been given and is looking forward to going to college.

“I have been kind of counting down the days. I think it’s going to be such an awesome experience. It’s such a great environment, the coaches and the girls on the team. They were all so welcoming when I first met everybody,” she said.

Wagner is grateful for her online school experience and said it was a good choice for her.

“The curriculum is definitely very challenging, which I appreciate. It’s really a great system they have. All of the teachers have been super great,” she said.