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| Alternative high school helps students excel (continued) Because of the wide range of ages at Helensview, students are broken up into three age-group categories, 12-14, 15-17 and 18-21. Within these categories, students have an individualized curriculum they follow, which also depends on the age at which they enrolled. The diploma students earn when they graduate is state recognized, Persson said, so when they apply for a job after graduation, it will look like the diploma from any traditional high school in Oregon. Persson said this is because she wants her students to be confident enough after graduation to apply for jobs that will lead to a better life. “Our philosophy is to focus on the positive,” she said. “We would drown in the negativity if that’s what we focused on.” The negativity Persson refers to is generally not seen in traditional high schools in the state. She said Helensview just observed the anniversary of a student who was murdered. “Nothing shocks me anymore,” she admitted. “I don’t know, maybe I should be (shocked). But we have had several students murdered, and you never get used to that.” Persson said whenever such a tragedy occurs; she stops everything and sets up a special room for students to visit if they need to be alone. “It is devastating, but it is part of their lives,” she said. “We bring in counselors. We work with the police and parole officers to help them cope.” While the school often has to deal with upsetting incidents, Persson said that overall, the atmosphere of the school is positive. She said all her students want to be at school, and if they don’t, she doesn’t force them to attend. She did say, however, that if a student does not show up to school for days, the school sends out a “street team” organized to find any student absent two or more days. Persson said the purpose of the team is not to force the students to go to school, but rather to make sure they are safe. Many of the students are either homeless or bounce from house to house, with no place to call home. “As long as we keep them connected to us, they’ll be okay,” she said. Helensview School staff members also reach out to students who are unable to attend school on a regular basis. JoAnn Ryan works for the district as the coordinator of Home Connections, a program that allows her to visit students who are either pregnant and on bed rest, have to work during the regular school day, or who are afraid to leave the house. Ryan has been at Helensview School for 10 years and with MESD for 29 years. “The majority of them just wouldn’t come to school (if I didn’t go to them),” Ryan said. She currently has 47 students that she visits from Helensview, all of whom have their own curriculum laid out for them just as they would have if they attended classes regularly at the school. “The ones who are older, I do post-secondary work and job skills work with, but they all need a different degree of services,” Ryan said. Of the 47 students that Ryan teaches through Home Connections, she said 10 of them are only a few credits short of graduating. And through the program, they will graduate this spring. Ryan said that sometimes the situations her students are in break her heart. She said it is difficult to see many students who are so close to graduating drop out because they don’t have enough faith that they can do it. She also said barriers - such as homelessness, no adults in their lives, and poverty - stop even the brightest and most determined students from succeeding. “Every kid deserves to learn,” Ryan said. Although her job is demanding and often emotionally draining, Persson said she wouldn’t want to do anything else. She said the school is her family and she would go to any measure to protect it. When observing her with staff and students, it is easy to see Persson’s passion for the school and for what Helensview represents. While growing up, Persson said she had teachers who were powerful and made her want to pursue education as a career, although she never planned to be at a school quite like Helensview. “I was born with this passion,” she said. “I feel like this is my life’s work. It’s a privilege to have this job.” Despite the hardened attitude of many of the students, Persson said they come to school eager to learn and are friendly toward staff and other students. She said the best way to interact with them - and to gain their trust - is to have faith in them and to treat them with respect. “All you really need is ... empathy and a passion for helping others,” she said. During times of stress and unrest, counseling is not only available for students, but for staff, too. Teacher turnaround does not occur frequently, and as a result, many teachers begin to feel emotionally drained about the problems they see in their students. “I’ve had teachers break down,” she said. “We have to support ourselves. I am very protective of my staff and students, and I want the best for them. What they experience is not easy stuff, and it is hard to hear.” Depending on the age at which they enroll, students at Helensview School can be there anywhere from a few months to seven years. Because of this, Persson said she feels a responsibility to prepare her students for life after Helensview. The students take classes that focus on trades they can utilize after graduation. One example is carpentry; a program Persson said is aimed not only at male students, but females as well. “We do a lot of frontline work to prepare them for life,” she said. “We focus in on the construction, trade and technical careers because those can provide a living wage.” Persson said the carpentry program and recording studio are there to encourage students to keep going with their classes and to stay motivated. “The way we teach is through projects that are interesting, relevant to their lives. If we don’t, we lose them,” she said. Persson said this is especially a problem for students who have attended regular high school but did not succeed for one reason or another. Marcelina Jimenez, an 18-year-old student who enrolled at Helensview two years ago, is one such student. Jimenez will graduate in June and wants to go into secretarial work. She said the skills she is learning at Helensview School are preparing her for life after high school. Prior to attending Helensview, Jimenez attended another alternative high school in Mid-county, and she said there are significant differences between the two. Jimenez is one of the school’s 80 students who are either pregnant or parenting, and her parole officer also referred her to the school. Before attending Helensview, she said she had no desire to go to school. It was hard. She didn’t like the students or the staff and felt excluded. But now, she said, she enjoys going to school. Helensview provides an environment in which she can learn. “I just look forward to going to school every day,” Jimenez said. “It completely changed after I came here. My old school didn’t have the things Helensview does.” Jimenez said that one of the main differences is Persson herself. She said she is a positive role model and genuinely cares about the school. “Kris is more focused on the kids than anything else,” she said. “She works through the program helping you to graduate. I love it here.” Not only does Jimenez enjoy coming to school every day, but she also feels safe. She thinks the school is a positive environment for her three-year-old daughter, Adriana. Outsiders looking in may see Helensview as a school that coddles its students, but anyone who takes a closer look at what it has done for students will see that it is preparing underprivileged teenagers to take their place in society. If they look at the walls of the school and at the bulletin board with faces of the class of 2006 - 90 of them, the largest graduating class in Helensview history - they will see the faces of students who overcame odds and graduated from high school when many, including themselves, doubted they would. |
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