Woodland grad overcomes dyslexia, ADHD struggles in online classes

At first, Evelina Paso struggled to find her place in high school.

She attended Kalama High School for the first half of her freshman year, but felt she wasn't doing well socially and switched to Woodland High School. When her new friends in Woodland started signing up for other programs like TEAM High School, Running Start and Cascadia Technical Academy, she felt like she was wasting time by staying behind.

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Things clicked when Paso transferred to TEAM High School, an alternative online school in Woodland School District.

"It worked out really wonderfully," she said. "It's really nice to be able to be paced at my own pace."

Paso graduated in June and plans to look for work, but her ultimate goal is to get married and become a stay-at-home mom. She said she is considering working as a tutor or a cleaner, which are both fields she enjoys.

Self-paced learning

TEAM allows students to take online lessons through a program called Apex Learning. Most schoolwork is done from home, though students are required to come into its portable building near the district office for at least one hour every week, according to its website.

The biggest advantage of TEAM's format, Paso said, is that it allowed her to set her own speed for each class. She could work ahead in subjects that came easily, and slow down to spend more time on topics she struggled with.

Paso has ADHD and dyslexia, which she said can make some school assignments difficult. Online classes and support from her parents and teachers helped her work around those issues.

Evelina Paso

Evelina Paso graduated from TEAM High School in Woodland in June. She plans to look for work, but hopes to one day become a stay-at-home mom.

Major changes

Earlier in her high school career, Paso planned to work as a medical assistant after graduating, then eventually quit when she got married. However, a year of classes at Cascadia Technical Academy at Vancouver in her junior year showed her that the career wasn't for her.

"That was a big bummer, because I just planned on it, and it didn't happen," she said.

She didn't make it into the second year of Cascadia Tech's medical assistant program, but said she wasn't sure if she would have enjoyed it. Juggling regular high school classes, medical assistant classes and a part-time job was also becoming overwhelming.

The sudden change in plans, combined with a series of personal issues, made the last year of high school challenging, Paso said.

She had to quit her job due to mental health issues, which meant doing cleaning work for family members to make sure she still had enough money for gas to get to and from school.

Around the same time, she fell out with the person she had been planning to marry and grew distant from their friend group as a result.

However, she went on to meet new friends, and said she emphasized in her graduation speech that things worked out well despite her struggles.

"The last line of my speech was, 'I bet some of the happiest chapters will be the ones we never planned to write,'" she said.

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This story was originally published July 8, 2026 at 6:29 PM.