Sean C. Morgan
Of The New Era
What do you do when you have bright students who have little interest in attending school?
District 55 Supt. Larry Horton thinks he has a solution to that problem. Horton is planning to begin a special program before the end of the school year that will help connect education to the real world for at-risk students.
He hopes to replicate or create a program similar to one he started in Oakridge School District to help at-risk students, students who either have been expelled or are not expected to graduate.
Horton was superintendent at Oakridge for six years before coming to Sweet Home. During the first two years, “I watched many at-risk kids drop out or get expelled,” he said.
Analyzing the problem, “it seemed they had little interest at all in a four-wall classroom,” Horton said. The students could see no relevance between the classroom and how it impacts their lives, he said.
Horton said he spoke about the problem to alternative education directors and found Cheryl Zwilliger of Looking Glass in Eugene. Looking Glass had a program for at-risk youth in partnership with the Eugene Parks Department, Horton said. The students would build swing sets and play apparatus or pull weeds, among a variety of projects, for high school credit.
The Forest Service had plenty of projects in the Oakridge area and even had a summer program in which it paid youths for their work, Horton said. “After a lot of discussion, we came up with a program where kids attend school in the morning for three hours.”
After lunch, they headed into the forest, learning and applying concepts from math, science and even writing, for high school credits, Horton said. They could see “real reasons for their education. We wanted them to find relevance in their education, get them interested in finishing high school and maybe going beyond.”
In the first year of the program, Oakridge had 10 students involved, Horton said. All of them were expelled or close to expulsion and would not graduate. Most had severe attendance problems. Eight graduated.
“That was an unbelievable success rate,” Horton said. “Most of them didn’t really want to go to school,” but the district talked with their parents and provided an opportunity.
These students were not doing well academically, but many of them were smart, Horton said. They had behavioral issues.
To complete the high school credits, the students would have to attend, participate and be good citizens.
In exchange, in addition to credit, they received $1 per day from an Oregon Youth Conservation Corps grant, Horton said.
“I would like to replicate or have something like that program here in Sweet Home,” Horton said. He has talked with the Sweet Home Ranger District about the program.
“I think it has a lot of potential to help kids learn, give them some basic job skills and discipline, showing up at work on time, also helping kids stay in school,” Sweet Home District Ranger Mike Rassbach said. “Our interest is in getting work accomplished in the forest. We provide the work out in the forest and some oversight in terms of how to get the work accomplished.”
This program is “not necessarily for kids that are in trouble,” Horton said. “It could be for a regular student that wants the work experience or experience working for the Forest Service.”
The Forest Service could provide a wide variety of work, including building bridges, planting trees, building trails and working with biologists and botanists.
It will “hopefully give them an opportunity to work with some mentors,” Horton said, and he hopes it will get them excited about their education.
Horton expects that students involved in the program will improve their attendance, pass state tests and change their attitudes about life in general, he said. In Oakridge, he said, he saw students, who initially complained about the program, turn around and begin developing a sense of pride in what they were doing.
The district has had a number of partnerships with the Forest Service over the years, Horton said. Those were usually between the Forest Service and specific science or leadership classes. This program will be larger in scope.
“It will be their school,” Horton said.
Horton is exploring opportunities for partnerships with a variety of organizations, including groups such as the Northwest Youth Corps and Community Services Consortium, but the logistics of the program, funding and organization remain undetermined.
Horton said he tried to get the program going last year, but a miscommunication between the district and Forest Service meant a grant application did not get turned in. He said the district did receive $6,500 from Linn County, which he hopes to use to help get the program up and running by the second or third trimester this year.
“I would love to find someone to run the program for us,” Horton said. He said he would prefer someone with experience working with the Forest Service and youths.
Throughout Oregon, there were perhaps four districts running similar programs, Horton said. “We were probably on the cutting edge of it. It may or may not work here, but I’d like to try it with 10 or 15 kids.”
Rassbach is all for it.
“I think it’s a good idea,” he said. “I know it’s been successful at Oakridge, and if we get it going here in Sweet Home, it’ll be a good opportunity for the students.
“Hopefully, the kids will learn to enjoy their learning and at the same time learn that work is enjoyable. There is a lot of satisfaction in a job well done, and I’m happy that’s what the kids will see.”