Published: February 26, 2009 09:32 pm      

Educators like alternative program

DANVILLE — Area educators, particularly in smaller county districts, are anticipating eagerly a new alternative education concept that will begin this fall at Danville Area Community College.

A new middle college will begin serving 25 11th-grade students from county high schools this fall.

Students who are selected for the program will take general high school studies as well as their own personalized academic coursework that can include college classes and internships.

The group of students the program aims to serve are students who aren’t flourishing in high school, but also lack discipline problems.

County superintendents say the program is just what they’ve been seeking for a particular group of students.

Georgetown-Ridge Farm Superintendent Kevin Tate said he’s been pushing for an alternative program like this one for 14.5 years — since he became superintendent.

For a number of circumstances, which can be issues in the home or a need to work to help support their families, high school seems to become less of a priority for a lot of kids, he said.

“It’s hard for them to do a traditional classroom setting, especially if you worked until 2 a.m. the night before,” he said.

“The students we’re talking about our not the ones who have no interest in anything — these are the ones that have it on the ball and could (succeed) given the right chance.”

These kids aren’t sure that a four-year school is for them, but they do want to succeed, he added.

The middle college’s schedule and set-up will meet these kids where they are.

“It will help show them they’re valuable; they’re good at something,” Tate said.

County districts like Georgetown-Ridge Farm are small enough that they don’t have their own alternative program system like Danville District 118.

Up to this point, Georgetown-Ridge Farm and other districts like Oakwood only had the Middlefork Regional Safe School program, which is run by the Regional Office of Education. The Middlefork program is geared to students who’ve been expelled — and have had significant disciplinary or drug problems.

“I’d like to see more alternative (education programs) for students, but this is a great start,” he said.

KevenForney, Oakwood superintendent, said a big component of the program will be job training through internships.

“This gives students another avenue to complete their high school diploma and it will hook them into a vocational career track,” Forney said.

Hopefully, students can begin filling the skilled labor jobs that area businesses need.

Ultimately, the program could help rebuild the county’s middle class, he added.

A group of educators from Danville schools began looking into the middle college concept last year.

A team of teachers, including Cannon Elementary School Principal Johnnie Carey and Alternative Program Administrator Tracy Cherry-Hoskins visited Olive Harvey Middle College in Chicago.

The setting could prove to be an invaluable tool to boost graduation rates and also rebuild the local economy, they say.

“The community needs something of that caliber to provide another alternative for students who just aren’t successful in a traditional school setting,” Cherry-Hoskins said.

Carey said the middle college may help kids who don’t fit the college-bound mold so common in high schools.

“We’re gearing so many programs toward students who are college bound,” Carey said. “I don’t see enough programs in this area for students who are not.”

Programs that train students in skilled labor would serve this group of students and the community, she said.

Not every child is successful in the current school system. If they start falling behind, it can be in grades as early as kindergarten, she said.

Others start falling behind in fourth grade and middle school. If kids don’t hit the ground running early on, it’s more difficult for them to find school relevant by the time they get to high school, she said.

Kids also fall behind in school because they have family circumstances or other issues at home that keep them from doing well.

“I think we’re going to see more and more circumstances like those unless the economy bounces back ... when things happen in family , kids start feeling like they need to help out and they’re working long hours,” she said.

Kids like that need a flex schedule, that will help them in school and get some vocational training at the same time, she said.

Carey hopes that through the middle college and other programs in the schools and in the county, DACC “blooms.”

“We need to really have a training ground for our kids so that when the economy does get back to where (it needs to be) our kids are prepared to go back into those positions,” she said.