Rescuing Minds Quest Program At Sacajawea Middle School Gives Students In Danger Of Dropping Out A Stimulating Alternative To Standard Classes

Throughout junior high school and high school, Mark Lishner struggled to pass his classes. Earning mostly D’s, he thought about dropping out of school.

But a few teachers who saw his potential encouraged him to stick it out, Lishner said.

Lishner barely made it into college, but once there, he flourished. What some teachers had called laziness turned out to be the reading disorder dyslexia. In college he learned to learn, he said.

Now, more than two decades later, Lishner is a teacher and the director of the Quest Program at Sacajawea Middle School. The program’s goal is to “reconnect students to school.”

The name reflects the program’s philosophy: Quest is an odyssey for teachers and students, Lishner said.

“This whole program is a journey for us and for the kids - and it’s an important journey,” Lishner said.

Quest’s concepts are loosely based on a junior high school for at-risk students in Kentucky, where Lishner taught before he came to Sacajawea eight years ago.

Lishner and fellow teachers Greg Perkins, Fred Radebaugh and Sandi Taylor are trying to help “discouraged learners,” - students who have lost interest in school rekindle an interest in academics.

Partly because Lishner knows first-hand about “school phobia,” what it’s like to be called lazy, to nod off in classes or skip class entirely, he is well-suited and motivated to help seventh- and eighth-grade students who have lost their way in school.

“These are bright kids - this is not a case of kids without ability,” he says of the 47 students enrolled in Quest.

“There is no stigma in being in this program,” Lishner said. “We get a lot of requests from regular students who want to be in the program.”

Now in its second year, Quest evolved from discussions Lishner and school counselor Sue Latendresse had about how discouraging it was to watch potentially talented students drop out of school in seventh or eighth grade.

“We were losing these kids,” Latendresse said. “It breaks your heart.”

With the principal’s support, six faculty members designed a program to provide “discouraged learners” with a comfortable, but structured setting. Lishner vowed to make learning fun.

Fun can mean painting to different styles of music; reading the paper and discussing current events, or making posters that depict the accomplishments of famous people.

“We have to try to be more relaxed than in the regular classroom,” said Greg Perkins, a Quest teacher. “We try to treat the whole kid. We don’t raise our voices.”

Students attend Quest voluntarily. If they are unhappy in the program, they can return to the regular classes. Only one student in the past two years asked to return to her regular classes.

Because the program is new, and unique in the district, teachers acknowledge they operate in an atmosphere of trial-and-error. After two years, however, they agree that Quest students need more one-on-one attention from teachers than do other students.

For that reason, faculty members at Sacajawea agreed to accept larger class loads to allow for a lower student-teacher ratio in Quest.

There is no handbook for bringing “discouraged learners” back into the academic fold, Lishner said.

“There is no model out there,” he said. And even if there was, he adds, “it wouldn’t work for every kid.”

Some students are bored with regular classes. Some are experiencing problems at home, making it difficult for them to concentrate at school, Lishner said.

One of the most gratifying aspects of the program has been the community’s willingness to help, Lishner said.

Quest students are given the opportunity to “job-shadow” working members of the community, Lishner said.

Students have spent a day observing doctors, physical therapists, graphic artists, lawyers police, fireman, veterinarians and architects.

“They come back really excited,” Radebaugh said. “They come back thinking - maybe I really do need school - and it makes them think about planning a four-year high school course.”

No one is sure how well the program will work. But grades are up, attendance is up, and the number of drop-outs is down. This year only one student dropped out, Lishner said.

Of last year’s 40 Quest students, 70 percent brought home end-of-the-year report cards with A’s and B’s. Before entering Quest many of those same students - 95 percent - had received D’s and F’s in regular classes, he said.

“We grade like other teachers,” Lishner said. “Grades are based on expected work.”

“It’s a great program,” said Donna Halvorson, whose ninth-grade son attended Quest last year.

“My son became more interested and enthusiastic about school and the way they taught the subjects,” Halvorson said.

“The fact they got to go out and do the job-shadowing was great. He felt like people appreciated him when he got there. What I have seen is that kids find a reason for why they’re learning things and how to apply it in the real world. When they do the job-shadowing they see that connection,” she said.

Other middle schools are interested in the program. School officials in the Pullman School District want to start a similar program, Lishner said.

In the large double classroom that includes desks and denim-covered couches, students say their teachers make learning fun.

“I’m getting much better classes,” said Nick Sylvia, an eighth-grader. “They make it fun here. They make you want to do the work.”

Students spend four periods during the day in the Quest program. They study math, science, English and history.

The rest of the day is spent in regular classes, such as wood shop, physical education or music classes.

Leanne Esperas, an eighth-grader, said she likes the additional attention offered by teachers. “We have more assistance here. And we do a lot of things in groups.”

One recent Monday, to encourage a groggy class of reticent students to start conversing, teachers asked students to build a sculpture out of 10 jelly beans and 25 pieces of spaghetti.

The students worked in teams and consulted one another. When the exercise was finished, students marveled at their constructions.

“Kids open up here,” Lishner said. “These are kids who have lost their trust in adults, who are pessimistic about adults or the educational structure they’re in,” Lishner said.

Reconnecting students, who may be at-risk of dropping out, takes priority over achieving academic parity with other students at the same grade level.

The alternative is dropping out - and when students drop out, the costs to society are enormous, Lishner said.

“They’re trying to make school a nice place to come to,” said Sacajawea Principal Herb Rotchford.

“The (Quest) teachers have a with-it-ness you can’t teach in Education 101,” he said. “They have the ability to create a classroom environment that kids enjoy,” Rotchford said.

“When I’m having a down day, a bummer day, I always make it into Quest,” Rotchford said. “It rejuvenates me. The kids are upbeat. The teachers there represent everything I believe in.” , DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo