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Actress and Dwight Online Student Yara Shahidi Visits Campus

On a brisk fall day in the Big Apple, Yara Shahidi took time away from the sunny California set of the ABC comedy series, "Black-ish," to visit Dwight. Ms. Shahidi, who plays a high school junior on the hit TV show is a high school junior taking AP and honors courses through Dwight's Open World School program.

On a brisk fall day in the Big Apple, Yara Shahidi took time away from the sunny California set of the ABC comedy series, "Black-ish," to visit Dwight. Ms. Shahidi, who plays a high school junior on the hit TV show is a high school junior taking AP and honors courses through Dwight's Open World School program.

Dwight designed its online program to offer students like Ms. Shahidi the flexibility needed to pursue their sparks of genius and receive a world-class education at the same time. We offer both IB and AP courses to students who wish to earn a high school diploma and customize the experience for each in Dwight's tradition of personalized learning.

During Ms. Shahidi's visit to Dwight, she visited with faculty, college counselors, and Chancellor Spahn. Ms. Shahidi shares, "As a professional actor and extremely academic student, the Dwight Open World online program offers challenging courses that I'm interested in, the flexibility I need to balance my work and school lives, and extremely involved academic instructors and counselors!"

While in New York City, Ms. Shahidi was recognized by the YWLN (Young Women's Leadership Network) at their 2015 (Em)Power Breakfast. The non-profit supports two life-changing programs that empower students to break the cycle of poverty through education: The Young Women's Leadership Schools, a high-performing network of all-girls public secondary schools; and a CollegeBound Initiative, which provides comprehensive college counseling for young men and women. Ms. Shahidi shares, "I was honored by The Young Women's Leadership Schools, founded by Ann Tisch, for my philanthropic involvement around empowering young women through education. I am a strong believer that young women, with support and encouragement, can do ANYTHING!"

Ms. Shahidi, who has pursued her passion for acting on film as well as TV, received an NAACP Image Award for "Best Supporting Actress" in a comedy series and was recently nominated for a Teen Choice Award as "Choice TV Breakout Star." She has recurring roles as the young Olivia Pope in ABC's "Scandal" and Maddy on ABC Family's "The Fosters."

We look forward to following the success of Ms. Shahidi both as an actress and a Dwight student!

Learn more about Dwight's Open World School program.