How INGDA Student Lily Balances Education and Passion 

Meet Lily: an Indiana Gateway Digital Academy (INGDA) 11th grader whose classmates include over 20 pigeons.  

Lily, from Bloomington, Indiana, joined INGDA in 2024 after hearing about the fully online public school from a family friend. At her previous brick and mortar school, Lily struggled with work-life balance. Strict hours and long work days didn’t work with Lily’s schedule, and she often found herself doing school work until one in the morning. She wasn’t able to work, participate in extracurriculars, see her friends, or care for her pigeons while maintaining her grades. 

Lily and her family began raising pigeons as a family project in 2021. What started with a few pigeons grew to over 20 birds, and Lily has fully embraced the experience. 

Fast forward to today, the flexibility of online school at INGDA allows Lily to care for her pigeons while thriving in school. Her daily routine includes waking up at 7 a.m to feed her birds, caring for any sick or injured ones, and joining live class sessions from home, sometimes with a pigeon perched on her shoulder! Lily loves that she can still have the public school experience of interacting with peers, connecting with her teachers, and earning the credits she needs to graduate through INGDA. 

At home, Lily, has a variety of pets including pigeons, chickens, and dogs. Caring for her animals has inspired her to consider a career in veterinary science. In turn, she’s pursuing the biomedical science pathway at INGDA to explore her options in this field and prepare herself for a bright future. 

If you or your child are interested in opening the doors to a flexible education, learn more and enroll in INGDA today!