East Valley Online: After thriving in online school, Luka Bearhead is ready for the college experience at Gonzaga

East Valley Online senior Luka Bearhead will be the first in his family to attend college when he walks onto the Gonzaga University campus this fall.

Bearhead, who has roots in the Stoney Nakoda and Cree First Nations in Canada on his father’s side, was born in Canada and lived there until he was 3, when his father died. He and his mom and older brother then lived in Oklahoma for three years before moving to Spokane to be near family.

He doesn’t remember much about his time in Oklahoma. “I do remember I was in Oklahoma when my mother got sick,” he said.

His mother contracted pneumonia, which permanently damaged her lungs. She has been on 24-hour oxygen ever since.

Bearhead switched to online school when he was in the sixth grade. He was helping his older brother take care of their mother and school made him anxious. “I got easily overwhelmed in big crowds of people and around loud noises,” he said.

He quickly found that he liked being able to complete his schoolwork at his own pace and at a much lower stress level. “I’ve noticed improvements since then in my abilities with my schooling,” he said. “It was a lot more enjoyable.”

He discovered East Valley Online, an online alternative school that offers a more personalized education. It serves students in seventh through 12th grades, offering honors classes, Advanced Placement classes and dual credit classes in addition to traditional core classes.

His decision to go to school online was cemented in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, when Bearhead worried about bringing the illness home to his mother. He had considered going back to in-person classes at one point, but it never happened. “Being at home helped a lot,” he said. “I never really went back.”

East Valley Online counselor Mary-Hope Lakin describes Bearhead as diligent, hardworking and caring. “These qualities define his character and underscore his dedication to his family as well as his academic pursuits,” she said. “His First Nations heritage enriches our online discussions with a unique perspective.”

Attending an online school has limited his involvement in sports, but Bearhead stays active by going on walks and playing basketball in his neighborhood. He and his brother, who is six years older, are in the early stages of creating a digital game. “We have some very basic ideas set down about it,” he said. “We haven’t really started at all.”

Bearhead has always enjoyed history and plans to study the subject at Gonzaga, along with a minor in Native American studies. Bearhead said he hadn’t really considered college until he filled out financial aid paperwork and realized that he could get enough scholarships to make it feasible. He settled on Gonzaga after touring the campus.

He hopes to use his degree to work in a museum doing archival work. His mother has some experience in that area and the two talked about her work when Bearhead was younger. “I realized I share a lot of interest in doing that kind of work,” he said.