She found a spark at Paradise Creek

Starting high school can be a scary event for a student.

For Jewel Elliott, she only lasted a week at Moscow High School in fall 2020 before dropping out.

“I guess I just kind of felt extremely overwhelmed going from Moscow Middle School to Moscow High School,” she said.

Stressed out by the bigger courseload and bigger school, and lacking the motivation to do online courses during the height of COVID-19, Elliott decided to sulk at home instead of going to class.

Elliott’s older sibling attended Paradise Creek Regional High School in Moscow and told Elliott the school could be her chance at a fresh start.

It was.

Now, in spring 2024, Elliott finds herself loving school and ready to graduate with strong grades Wednesday. She plans to attend the University of Idaho next year to study criminology.

“Going here, I feel the motivation to actually attend and I definitely have seen a lot of improvement in myself,” she said.

Elliott said she benefited from the school’s small size and the more focused attention from teachers like Matt Pollard, who praised her for the progress she’d made. Pollard called Elliott self-motivated and admired her self-discipline.

“(She’s) kind of the quiet leader in the building,” he said.

Elliott said when she first arrived at Paradise Creek, she felt shy and closed off because she did not know anyone else. That changed quickly at the small school because “you become acquainted with everybody really, really fast,” she said.

Her grades improved — even in subjects she used to dread like science and math. She particularly loved taking forensics and physics classes, which will likely help Elliott in her criminology studies.

Her attendance also improved. Elliott went from hating school to being so proactive in her studies that she finished her required credits early.

Before attending Paradise Creek, Elliott said did not have a plan for her future. She called her journey since then “kind of surreal.”

“I think it’s really cool that I found my spark,” she said.

Kuipers can be reached at akuipers@dnews.com.