Two WHS Teachers are Online Learning 'Pioneers'

Paul Vital says that virtual high school learning was “just getting off the ground” when he got involved 15 years ago.

Thursday, Westborough High School’s computer science and business team chairman, and social studies teacher Nicole Miller, were honored as “pioneers” by VHS Collaborative President and CEO Jeffrey Elliott.

Elliott presented Vital with the collaborative’s 15-year award, and Miller with a 10-year award, in the Westborough High library media center. They were among several educators the collaborative honored on Thursday.

“These guys are pioneers,” Elliott said of Vital and Miller.

“The first online learning didn’t start in any kind of meaningful way until probably 2002 or so. We were very early, with Westborough being one of the first.”

Vital has been Westborough High School’s program coordinator.

He said he started with VHS in the late 1990s, when it was “just getting off the ground.”

“The appeal was the dynamic challenge,” he said.

“It was different. It was cutting edge at the time. Nobody was doing online. It was a chance to bring something up from ground zero.”

Each semester, Westborough High now has 75 students enrolled in Virtual High School courses, Vital said.

“I think it’s brought the opportunities for students to learn from different teachers around the world, which is invaluable and prepares them for college, and also gives them the opportunity to take some very specialized courses no high school can support,” said Vital, who will retire at the end this month, ending 29 years teaching at Westborough High, and 45 years total.

Meanwhile, Miller said she has done“a lot of teaching, and also developing, through VHS.”

“To be on that end of it has been fascinating,” said Miller, adding that she now teaches psychology through VHS “and I have adapted a lot of it to my face to face class, and vice versa.”