There are many different factors that can play into a high school student failing a class but sometimes it just takes a little extra help to get them back on track. That’s where Bountiful High School teacher Alexa Olson steps in. Olson teaches a study skills class to help kids with credit recovery. Olson was recently awarded the Most Valuable Educator by Instructure, the makers of the Canvas Learning Management System in partnership with the Utah Jazz. 

“The class is for them to get help remediating core classes like English, geography, chemistry, biology any class they failed,” said Olson. “I help them understand the content so they can take the quiz or exam. I also set specific goals for them and teach them skills to prevent them from failing other classes.”

When COVID hit and school went into soft closure a lot of kids failed fourth term, she said. “Many of them struggled not being in school with a teacher and then just going a couple of days with the hybrid schedule.”

Olson said she gives the students in her class strategies to pass their classes. “We use techniques like flash cards and make a calendar for a day, a week or a month. We plan out what they need to do to be successful. I want to help them make up classes to prevent them from dropping out of school.”

It’s never that they’re lazy, she said. “There’s always a reason why a student is struggling. It’s usually because something is going on in their personal life. I want them to be motivated to keep their GPA up and get those credits back on their transcript.”

Olson’s interaction with students doesn’t stop at the classroom door, she’s also the Bountiful High swim coach. “I went to Viewmont and swam for four years there,” she said. “At 19 I was hired to be the head coach at Bountiful. I’m 26 now.”

The swim community is really great, said Olson. “My swim kids had a big impact on what I wanted to do so I changed my career path. I was going to be a petroleum chemicals engineer. I lost 160 pounds when I was 21 so I wanted to become a PE teacher for kids who struggled with their own health journey.”