by Susie EarlMy daughter Marissa took herself out of our local, public, brick-and-mortar school two days ago. She told me she wanted to be a Kindergarten teacher but didn’t think she would receive the adequate education to do so.She didn’t feel challenged. She didn’t feel prepared. She felt all of these things…and she is 9 years old. If Marissa was so sure of her fate in our public school system this early, there’s no way she would be fulfilled in the long term.The first outing scheduled with our new virtual public school was Learning Day at the Capitol.It was clear to me from the registration line that the Digital Public Schools Alliance of Washington was going to be a great organization to join. They outfitted us with all the tools for our school choice rally toolkit: #ITrustParents t-shirts, stress balls, frisbees, stickers, signs, and letters to customize for our legislators.After a lesson about how a bill becomes a law, we gathered in the beautiful rotunda to present Champions of Kids awards to four members of the state legislature. Then, the best part! The opportunity to stop by our local representative and senator’s offices to talk about why school choice is important to us. And boy, did I have a story to tell! Lastly, we had a lunch with fellow virtual learners and toured the Capitol building.As we left Olympia and jump head first into this new adventure of virtual education, we’re thankful that Washington elected officials have said #ITrustParents to choose the best school option for their children.

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