Teen vaulted many hurdles for college goal

The Liberty teenagerwas diagnosed with ADDas a child.
By TIM YOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
LIBERTY -- Ashley Blakeman has been tutored throughout her schooling and studied more hours to overcome a learning disability.
It's paying off.
The 17-year-old Liberty High School senior has a 3.6 grade point average and has passed the ACT college entrance exam.
On the horizon is a four-year scholarship to attend Central Michigan University.
But it's not because of her academics that she was awarded the $18,000-a-year scholarship; it's her gymnastics skills.
"If I hadn't passed that [ACT] test, I wouldn't have been able to go to college," Ashley said during a break in a recent workout at Olympic Dreams Gymnastics in Vienna.
Ashley's mother, Caroline King of Tibbetts-Wick Road, said that when Ashley was 6 she couldn't keep up with her classmates and was fidgety.
She was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder, which caused her problems with learning.
King said Ashley was placed in special education classes until the fifth grade, but she couldn't keep pace there, either, unless she studied longer and was given more time to take tests.
Always tutored
"She has been tutored all her life," King said, pointing out that Ann Marie Novotny, director of educational services at Liberty Schools, ensured that Ashley had tutors.
"I wanted her to go to college. I didn't want her to slip through the cracks," King recalled, adding that Ashley studied before school, at lunch and after school.
King has a gymnastics background and would teach her daughter how to tumble when they played. When Ashley was in the eighth grade, her mother enrolled her at Olympic Dreams.
She was put on a training team geared for competition rather than recreation.
King said she's convinced gymnastics has helped her daughter academically because of the need to focus on a task.
Ashley is a regional and state champion and qualified for national competition.
Gary and Dawn Toussaint own Olympic Dreams. Both were members of the Kent State University gymnastic teams and Mrs. Toussaint taught with internationally known gymnastics coach Bela Karoly in Texas.
Dawn Toussaint knew Ashley had natural talent the minute she saw her.
"She gets frustrated more than others because she wants to learn right away. She has high skill levels in every event," Ashley's coach said.
Colleges' interest
Since age 15, nine colleges have visited.
Ashley has five brothers and sisters, and two attend Youngstown State University. If not for the scholarship offered her, attending college would have been a big burden on her family.
A condition of getting the scholarship was her being able to pass the ACT with a minimum score of 17. The highest score possible is 36.
When Ashley took the test first as a sophomore, she scored only a 12. The second test showed an improvement to 15, but still not good enough to qualify for college.
After studying learning techniques with Jonelle Beatrice, director of YSU's Center for Student Progress, she improved her score to 20.
Meanwhile, she practices at the gym more than four hours a day, four days a week. She teaches at the gym three days a week.
"I just basically want my college paid for," Ashley said. While studying to become a graphic artist, she hopes to have fun with her chosen sport.
While in college, Ashley will continue working with a tutor, attend study tables because she's an athlete and receive added time to complete her tests because of her learning disability.
yovich@vindy.com