Good Alternative High School Dropouts Returning To Innovative East Valley Classes

Ben Olson dropped out of high school last year. He tried two alternative programs and quit both.

Now Olsen and 47 other students who dropped out or were kicked out of school have found a niche in East Valley School District’s alternative education program. Forty-one more students are waiting to get in.

“So far this year, I’ve got five As and one B,” Olsen said, beaming with pride. “Best report card I’ve ever had.”

Teachers and students say that’s because of the personal attention students receive. With 48 students and three teachers - a ratio of 16 to 1 - teachers guide students along at their own pace.

“The teachers aren’t always breathing down your neck,” said 15-year-old Jocey Dombrosky, a sophomore. “The teachers here, they’re always there for you. They help you get ahead.”

East Valley’s alternative education program, housed on the East Valley High School campus, was the brainchild of EVHS principal Jeff Miller and assistant principal Ray Stookey, who were searching for a way to attract increasing numbers of dropouts back to school.

The program came together over the summer when Mike Malsam, Dick Schultz and Kathy Luden, who teach math, history and technology, and English, signed on. The threesome designed the curriculum and lesson plans, much of which are interdisciplinary. For a lesson on Pacific Northwest history, the students took a field trip to a Nez Perce historical site, then wrote about it in an English paper.

The heavy emphasis on technology is a big draw. On 15 new computers, the students learn typing, their grades increasing with their speed. Fifteen words per minute is a “C.” But typing lessons, like the one in the form of a car race, are fun. The faster the student types, the faster his or her car moves across the computer screen. Students also can listen to music on the computers’ compact disc players while they work.

The students use the computers to do research. Among the software available is a three dimensional atlas of the world for geography lessons, Time magazine archives dating back to the 1920s, and a full set of encyclopedias.

The curriculum is designed for flexibility and real-world skills, like investing and balancing a checkbook. The only requirement is that students make progress. During English class, some students read short stories while lounging in the tiny building’s hallway, others write essays or take tests. Students work at their own pace and choose their own tasks for the day.

“We’re getting to the same place, it’s just a different route,” said English teacher Kathy Luden. While the students work, Luden moves among them, keeping them on task and helping those who need it.

Many of these students, like Olsen, have tried out the Valley’s other two alternative education programs. Some liked Spokane Valley High School and Contract Based Education on Bowdish. Others said it was too easy for them to cut class or goof off. They wanted the extra discipline provided at EV.

“The teachers (at the other alternative programs) don’t get on you about doing an assignment, but here they do,” said senior Jamie Farris, 17. “I told them I need the discipline and they said, ‘OK, we can give that to you.”’

The students also can use any of the services available at the regular high school. Some take electives, such as French, journalism or driver’s education. They use the library and eat in the cafeteria. When they graduate, they will receive an EVHS diploma.

“We have our own program,” said math teacher Mike Malsam, “but we’re kind of still attached (to East Valley High School).”

The program is not without problems. Eight students have dropped out or been kicked out since the beginning of the school year, some for behavior, others for bringing drugs to school. The students who remain don’t want other students to ruin what they call the best high school they’ve ever attended.

“We don’t really miss the students that got kicked out,” said sophomore Liz McIntosh, 15. “All the people that deserved to get kicked out, did.”

Also, alternative education schools are permitted by state law to allow smoking on campus, which incites jealousy among some smoking students at EVHS. During class breaks, about 90 percent of the students rush outside for a smoke. The teachers don’t deny the importance of the students’ smoking privileges.

“I think we’d lose a lot if we didn’t have it,” Dick Schultz said. Still, the classrooms are decorated with anti-smoking posters and the teachers are trying to set up a ‘stop smoking’ class.

For these teachers and students, the benefits of the alternative program outweigh the drawbacks. Students who had given up on school are giving it another shot.

“I was planning on graduating,” said Olsen, a senior. “But I didn’t know how I was going to do it.”

Now, he does.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 2 Photos (1 Color)