That was some winter, huh? Gosh it’s good to see the sun shine and the flowers blooming and the grass turning green. We missed about 9 days of school altogether, plus we had 3 delays and one early dismissal. Since 4 of the days were under a “state of emergency” we will not be required to make them up. We also bank a little extra time each day, so we don’t need to make up every lost day.
So, we’re going to make up two snow days. Students will now go to school all day on June 10, 11 and 14. Monday the 14th will be the last day for kids. Tuesday June 15th will be the last day for teachers. Report cards will be mailed.
Summer school will be scaled back again. All summer school classes – elementary, middle and high school - will be held at Central Elementary. High school summer school will be drastically scaled back. Only seniors will get a chance to recover failed core classes.
Many call and ask when school will start next year. The answer is very late. We have some major remodeling projects planned for Lake Forest High School and W.T.Chipman. To maximize the summer construction period, we will not begin school for students until Tuesday, September 7 – following Labor Day.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Friday, March 26, 2010
Heard it Through the Grapevine
We’re going to try a new angle on this social media idea by offering up a place where you can find out everything you ever wanted to know about Lake Forest Schools but were afraid to ask.
I heard recently that among the parents of a certain school district somewhere in the USA, rumors started going around that the school was going to offer coffee for sale to students. That story spread like wildfire through the bleachers, the grocery lines, the churches and anywhere else folks gathered. An angry mob showed up at the next meeting of the local board of education armed with all sorts of research to prove it was a bad idea. Of course they were chagrinned to learn that there was no plan and no discussion of serving coffee to students.
Of course if any one of them had just called a principal or the superintendent’s office they might have found out sooner that there was no truth to the story. But they didn’t.
We know that no matter how well we communicate, rumors still persist. And sometimes, those sharing the rumors may themselves think, “Oh, that’s ridiculous. There’s probably nothing to it. But what if….?” It might sound so silly that they are embarrassed to ask.
So, the new Spartan Grapevine blog is a place to ask any question. Ask it anonymously if you like. The question will be sent to the appropriate Lake Forest staff person to answer it. Then both the question and the answer will be posted for all to see.
So, if you have a question that you’d like to post on the Spartan Grapevine just go to www.spartangrapevine.blogspot.com and enter your question in the comment section. We promise that within a few days you’ll see your question and the answer.
I heard recently that among the parents of a certain school district somewhere in the USA, rumors started going around that the school was going to offer coffee for sale to students. That story spread like wildfire through the bleachers, the grocery lines, the churches and anywhere else folks gathered. An angry mob showed up at the next meeting of the local board of education armed with all sorts of research to prove it was a bad idea. Of course they were chagrinned to learn that there was no plan and no discussion of serving coffee to students.
Of course if any one of them had just called a principal or the superintendent’s office they might have found out sooner that there was no truth to the story. But they didn’t.
We know that no matter how well we communicate, rumors still persist. And sometimes, those sharing the rumors may themselves think, “Oh, that’s ridiculous. There’s probably nothing to it. But what if….?” It might sound so silly that they are embarrassed to ask.
So, the new Spartan Grapevine blog is a place to ask any question. Ask it anonymously if you like. The question will be sent to the appropriate Lake Forest staff person to answer it. Then both the question and the answer will be posted for all to see.
So, if you have a question that you’d like to post on the Spartan Grapevine just go to www.spartangrapevine.blogspot.com and enter your question in the comment section. We promise that within a few days you’ll see your question and the answer.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Testifying in Washington, D.C.
I recently had the honor of being asked by the American Association of School Administrators to testify before the Congressional Sub-Committee on reauthorization of what is known as the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Congressman Castle is senior minority member of that committee and he and his staff helped me out a lot with understanding the process – kept me from getting too scared. I was asked to speak on the important issues for rural school districts in ESEA. If you go to the committee site at http://edlabor.house.gov/hearings/ecese/ and click on the archives button for March 18 you’ll be able to see the web cast and a full copy of my written testimony. What follows is a summary of that testimony.
Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education
Committee on Education and Labor
March 18, 2010
SUMMARY
Testimony of Dr. Daniel Curry, Superintendent
Lake Forest School District, Kent County Delaware
I come today to speak on behalf or rural school districts. I have been a superintendent for 22 years in West Virginia and Delaware. In my testimony I will make the following key points about the nature of rural districts:
• Rural school districts are by definition poor with little in the way of property value that adds to the tax base.
• Rural districts, due to geographic isolation, often find it difficult to attract new professionals.
• Rural districts, with necessarily small schools, must give teacher multiple assignments which leads challenges when it comes to federally required Highly Qualified teachers.
• Qualified teachers in Math, Science and Special Education are hard to find.
• Rural districts generally have small, often shared central office staff members who wear multiple hats.
• Rural districts don’t often have individuals dedicated to grant writing.
• Tech support is often home-grown.
Reauthorization of ESEA and rural school districts:
• ESEA funding is and always has been crucial to student success in rural areas.
• Formula funding, based upon poverty rates is the fairest means of distribution of ESEA funds.
• Making ESEA funding competitive would only broaden the gap between the haves and the have-nots.
• Gauge student progress through measuring growth.
• Gauge special education student progress on growth as measured through their I.E.P..
• There is nothing special about special education if they are held to the same achievement standard as all other students, when by definition they are struggling learners.
• Small schools can easily have student performance measures skewed by the performance of just a couple of students.
• Graduation rates should be calculated on the number of students who successfully complete the high school program no matter how many years it takes.
Finally, on behalf of the 6000 school districts which depend upon the funds provided by the Rural Education Achievement Program, I urge your support of HR 2446 and reauthorize REAP.
Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education
Committee on Education and Labor
March 18, 2010
SUMMARY
Testimony of Dr. Daniel Curry, Superintendent
Lake Forest School District, Kent County Delaware
I come today to speak on behalf or rural school districts. I have been a superintendent for 22 years in West Virginia and Delaware. In my testimony I will make the following key points about the nature of rural districts:
• Rural school districts are by definition poor with little in the way of property value that adds to the tax base.
• Rural districts, due to geographic isolation, often find it difficult to attract new professionals.
• Rural districts, with necessarily small schools, must give teacher multiple assignments which leads challenges when it comes to federally required Highly Qualified teachers.
• Qualified teachers in Math, Science and Special Education are hard to find.
• Rural districts generally have small, often shared central office staff members who wear multiple hats.
• Rural districts don’t often have individuals dedicated to grant writing.
• Tech support is often home-grown.
Reauthorization of ESEA and rural school districts:
• ESEA funding is and always has been crucial to student success in rural areas.
• Formula funding, based upon poverty rates is the fairest means of distribution of ESEA funds.
• Making ESEA funding competitive would only broaden the gap between the haves and the have-nots.
• Gauge student progress through measuring growth.
• Gauge special education student progress on growth as measured through their I.E.P..
• There is nothing special about special education if they are held to the same achievement standard as all other students, when by definition they are struggling learners.
• Small schools can easily have student performance measures skewed by the performance of just a couple of students.
• Graduation rates should be calculated on the number of students who successfully complete the high school program no matter how many years it takes.
Finally, on behalf of the 6000 school districts which depend upon the funds provided by the Rural Education Achievement Program, I urge your support of HR 2446 and reauthorize REAP.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
A Country School in Paraguay
Last week I posted a story about my adventures in rural Paraguay. Although we gather numerous stories from once-in-a-lifetime adventures, I’ll not attempt to put them all in writing for this spot. I must share with you, though, what I was able to see of a rural Paraguayan school.
One of the Peace Corps volunteers in my daughter’s rural community is named Greg. Greg lives in a school in the campo. He has a small two room apartment, a kitchen the size of a closet and a bathroom with no toilet. His cook stove works on bottle gas and when we visited, he had been out of gas for a week. He was cooking on a brick oven in an attached shed.
One of the basic rules of Peace Corps assignment is that the volunteers are provided with a sufficient living allowance to live at the same standard as their community. They are provided health care support at the American standard but they cannot afford to live at an “American standard” when it comes to housing, food and transportation.
So, Greg lives in his little place and one of his assignments is to help the school in any way he can. He found their meager supplies were in disarray and stored in broken, unsecured cabinets, so he built storage cabinets for the school.
He found there were limited ancient texts and virtually no library books, so he started a campaign to raise money and seek donations of books. I delivered to him 55children’s books in Spanish that my wife and I bought from one of the companies that does book fairs in the schools.
It was summer in Paraguay, but school was scheduled to start this week. Cow’s grazed through the yard. A little boy and an old man, came to get them around noon to take them to shade and water. Greg told me that by tradition, during the first week of school, the students and the teachers clean and paint.
Greg took me into the director’s office (principal’s office) to show me the cabinets he built and the beginnings of the library he was putting together. I noticed a hand made poster on the wall. The poster was labeled “Caracteristicas del Director”. Listed on this colorful poster, which was obviously the product of a group activity at some workshop, I read that the director is: Lider, Profesional, Responsable, Orientador, Democratico, Conciliador, Respetuoso and Cortes.
It was clear that, although this school is located far down a red dirt road in poverty filled rural Paraguay, that someone had invested in staff development for the director to make him a better director. It just goes to show you, no matter where you go, people do want to get better. No matter how poor, they don’t want to be poor for ever. No matter how limited the resources of the school, the director had a vision to become a better director. And even if it means, we all help to clean the school, the beginning of school is an exciting time no matter where you live.
In fact, as a special event prior to the opening of school, the director invited Greg to his house to eat pigs head. Gee, I’m sorry I missed that.
One of the Peace Corps volunteers in my daughter’s rural community is named Greg. Greg lives in a school in the campo. He has a small two room apartment, a kitchen the size of a closet and a bathroom with no toilet. His cook stove works on bottle gas and when we visited, he had been out of gas for a week. He was cooking on a brick oven in an attached shed.
One of the basic rules of Peace Corps assignment is that the volunteers are provided with a sufficient living allowance to live at the same standard as their community. They are provided health care support at the American standard but they cannot afford to live at an “American standard” when it comes to housing, food and transportation.
So, Greg lives in his little place and one of his assignments is to help the school in any way he can. He found their meager supplies were in disarray and stored in broken, unsecured cabinets, so he built storage cabinets for the school.
He found there were limited ancient texts and virtually no library books, so he started a campaign to raise money and seek donations of books. I delivered to him 55children’s books in Spanish that my wife and I bought from one of the companies that does book fairs in the schools.
It was summer in Paraguay, but school was scheduled to start this week. Cow’s grazed through the yard. A little boy and an old man, came to get them around noon to take them to shade and water. Greg told me that by tradition, during the first week of school, the students and the teachers clean and paint.
Greg took me into the director’s office (principal’s office) to show me the cabinets he built and the beginnings of the library he was putting together. I noticed a hand made poster on the wall. The poster was labeled “Caracteristicas del Director”. Listed on this colorful poster, which was obviously the product of a group activity at some workshop, I read that the director is: Lider, Profesional, Responsable, Orientador, Democratico, Conciliador, Respetuoso and Cortes.
It was clear that, although this school is located far down a red dirt road in poverty filled rural Paraguay, that someone had invested in staff development for the director to make him a better director. It just goes to show you, no matter where you go, people do want to get better. No matter how poor, they don’t want to be poor for ever. No matter how limited the resources of the school, the director had a vision to become a better director. And even if it means, we all help to clean the school, the beginning of school is an exciting time no matter where you live.
In fact, as a special event prior to the opening of school, the director invited Greg to his house to eat pigs head. Gee, I’m sorry I missed that.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Another World
Last week I played hooky from school. As it turned out, I didn’t miss much – more snow days and two 2 hour delays.
I took a long overdue vacation trip to see my little girl Betsy. She graduated from college in May of 2007 and that June headed to Paraguay to honor her plan to serve in the Peace Corps. She signed on for an extra year as a coordinator and presently lives in the capital city of Asuncion. Her first two years were spent on assignment in the “campo” which translates to “out in the sticks”, where she was to assist the farm co-op and others with economic development.
She has been home once in 2 ½ years and will finish her obligation in September. I thought I owed it to her, before she leaves South America, to see first hand the life she has been living and the community she served. I wanted to personally thank the man and woman who served as her surrogate parents in the campo, Pablino and Racquel, for looking after my little girl.
After 3 planes and 29 hours of travel time I finally arrived in Asuncion.
I rented a car at the airport and after a good nights sleep, we headed to the campo. Betsy had organized a cookout to be held at her host parent’s home and we were in charge of picking up other Peace Corps volunteers who would be attending. We drove around 200 kilometers on a good highway to get from the city to the San Pedro district that was home to these folks.
Then it was time to round up the kids (as I call the volunteers – all in their 20s). Now I have fished some of the most remote trout streams of West Virginia. For 13 years I lived and worked in the most sparsely populated school district east of the Mississippi where the student population averaged 1.5 kids per square mile. I have never traveled dirt roads like this.
There were no rocks to speak of, just dusty red dirt. The base seemed solid enough and although there were ruts and washouts, there was plenty of traffic. There were lots of motorbikes, a few cars and trucks, and plenty of horse and ox carts. In what seemed like a 15 mile loop I picked up 3 kids, each at their little two room shacks, delivered them to the host family’s house and repeated the process once again on another network of dusty red roads to collect 4 more.
While we enjoyed a nice barbecue of tough Brahman beef it started to rain. It rained all afternoon. Eventually Betsy suggested we start taking the kids home, because it was well known that the public buses these folks depended on to get out to more populated areas, never run when it rains. Maybe that’s because driving on these red dirt roads gets treacherous when wet. I learned that was true.
My rental car was a well used Ford Explorer and it was questionable if the 4 wheel drive was functional. After 2 nail biting hours of slipping and slopping through the soup, I managed to get all the kids delivered back to their little cabins safely. We were just a mile from the hard road when a truck with a top heavy load of pineapples stopped in front of me. I eased around it, found myself on a severely sloped shoulder and in seconds we were hung up - immobile in the side ditch with only one wheel actually touching the road.
The rain had finally stopped and as we stepped out of the car and into the road we learned just how greasy slick that red dirt had become.
This whole experience will lead to a couple of stories worth sharing in the weeks to come, but let me close this one out by saying the Paraguan people are kind and generous. Many offered shelter while we awaited rescue. One truck tried to pull us free using an ancient rope offered by one of the neighbors. The rope broke twice. We offered to pay for the rope, but they laughed and said it was a grandfather rope with no strength left in it.
I would still be standing in that ditch with a forlorn look on my face if not for ol’ John Deere. That’s right. The local farm co-op owns a big green John Deere tractor and eventually Pablino came along and snatched us out of that hole. While watching that big green machine come over the hill, I couldn’t have felt any more rescued than if I were watching the arrival of the U. S. Marines. Memories of Paraguay will stay with me for a long, long time.
I took a long overdue vacation trip to see my little girl Betsy. She graduated from college in May of 2007 and that June headed to Paraguay to honor her plan to serve in the Peace Corps. She signed on for an extra year as a coordinator and presently lives in the capital city of Asuncion. Her first two years were spent on assignment in the “campo” which translates to “out in the sticks”, where she was to assist the farm co-op and others with economic development.
She has been home once in 2 ½ years and will finish her obligation in September. I thought I owed it to her, before she leaves South America, to see first hand the life she has been living and the community she served. I wanted to personally thank the man and woman who served as her surrogate parents in the campo, Pablino and Racquel, for looking after my little girl.
After 3 planes and 29 hours of travel time I finally arrived in Asuncion.
I rented a car at the airport and after a good nights sleep, we headed to the campo. Betsy had organized a cookout to be held at her host parent’s home and we were in charge of picking up other Peace Corps volunteers who would be attending. We drove around 200 kilometers on a good highway to get from the city to the San Pedro district that was home to these folks.
Then it was time to round up the kids (as I call the volunteers – all in their 20s). Now I have fished some of the most remote trout streams of West Virginia. For 13 years I lived and worked in the most sparsely populated school district east of the Mississippi where the student population averaged 1.5 kids per square mile. I have never traveled dirt roads like this.
There were no rocks to speak of, just dusty red dirt. The base seemed solid enough and although there were ruts and washouts, there was plenty of traffic. There were lots of motorbikes, a few cars and trucks, and plenty of horse and ox carts. In what seemed like a 15 mile loop I picked up 3 kids, each at their little two room shacks, delivered them to the host family’s house and repeated the process once again on another network of dusty red roads to collect 4 more.
While we enjoyed a nice barbecue of tough Brahman beef it started to rain. It rained all afternoon. Eventually Betsy suggested we start taking the kids home, because it was well known that the public buses these folks depended on to get out to more populated areas, never run when it rains. Maybe that’s because driving on these red dirt roads gets treacherous when wet. I learned that was true.
My rental car was a well used Ford Explorer and it was questionable if the 4 wheel drive was functional. After 2 nail biting hours of slipping and slopping through the soup, I managed to get all the kids delivered back to their little cabins safely. We were just a mile from the hard road when a truck with a top heavy load of pineapples stopped in front of me. I eased around it, found myself on a severely sloped shoulder and in seconds we were hung up - immobile in the side ditch with only one wheel actually touching the road.
The rain had finally stopped and as we stepped out of the car and into the road we learned just how greasy slick that red dirt had become.
This whole experience will lead to a couple of stories worth sharing in the weeks to come, but let me close this one out by saying the Paraguan people are kind and generous. Many offered shelter while we awaited rescue. One truck tried to pull us free using an ancient rope offered by one of the neighbors. The rope broke twice. We offered to pay for the rope, but they laughed and said it was a grandfather rope with no strength left in it.
I would still be standing in that ditch with a forlorn look on my face if not for ol’ John Deere. That’s right. The local farm co-op owns a big green John Deere tractor and eventually Pablino came along and snatched us out of that hole. While watching that big green machine come over the hill, I couldn’t have felt any more rescued than if I were watching the arrival of the U. S. Marines. Memories of Paraguay will stay with me for a long, long time.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Bullying and other issues
The other day I asked Doug Brown, Principal at W. T. Chipman, to identify for me the areas in which middle school children have the hardest time doing the right thing. He didn’t hesitate. He described two issues:
1. Bullying and
2. Speaking appropriately to the opposite sex
Bullying has been around for a long time, but only in the past few decades have we begun to understand the potential damage. School shooters and other criminals who have acted in revenge have claimed to be victims of bullying.
Middle school kids are the worst for being mean to each other. What might begin as light hearted teasing can turn into mean spirited bashing. Children are very sensitive at this age. Big boys physically, might still be little boys emotionally. If they cry when they get upset, their peers can be merciless. Any child who is a little different can become a target to everyone.
A bully is not necessarily big and strong. A bully is simply someone who makes fun or picks on those who are not like him or her. If they’re not in your group, you might make fun of them. As Mr. Brown says, “They believe they’re not hurting someone because they’re not hitting.” But they do hurt each. The hurt goes deep and can leave scars.
The inappropriate relating to the opposite sex is closely related to the bullying.
Remember when you were that age? It is awkward.
Girls start to mature physically before the boys and things start to blossom. Boys notice and before you know it, they’re making some sort of observation out loud. They may make fun of what their seeing. They may try to touch. This is demeaning and hurtful to the girls. Of course, all such behavior is inappropriate and school officials do apply consequences.
Today’s media exposes children to a lot of interplay and social intercourse that most adults would not engage in. Songs refer to women in derogatory terms, music videos are full of sexy scenes and dances appear to be similar to the act of procreation except the clothes are left on. Clothing styles are often skin tight with lots of cleavage. In spite of the fact that most children do not live in homes where that behavior is celebrated, they often attempt to act that way when they are with each other.
As parents, it is important to be cognizant of the fact that children learn how men and women should relate to each other from the role models around them. Please keep that in mind next time you disagree or the next time one of you messes up. The children are always watching and they learn how to handle life from your example.
1. Bullying and
2. Speaking appropriately to the opposite sex
Bullying has been around for a long time, but only in the past few decades have we begun to understand the potential damage. School shooters and other criminals who have acted in revenge have claimed to be victims of bullying.
Middle school kids are the worst for being mean to each other. What might begin as light hearted teasing can turn into mean spirited bashing. Children are very sensitive at this age. Big boys physically, might still be little boys emotionally. If they cry when they get upset, their peers can be merciless. Any child who is a little different can become a target to everyone.
A bully is not necessarily big and strong. A bully is simply someone who makes fun or picks on those who are not like him or her. If they’re not in your group, you might make fun of them. As Mr. Brown says, “They believe they’re not hurting someone because they’re not hitting.” But they do hurt each. The hurt goes deep and can leave scars.
The inappropriate relating to the opposite sex is closely related to the bullying.
Remember when you were that age? It is awkward.
Girls start to mature physically before the boys and things start to blossom. Boys notice and before you know it, they’re making some sort of observation out loud. They may make fun of what their seeing. They may try to touch. This is demeaning and hurtful to the girls. Of course, all such behavior is inappropriate and school officials do apply consequences.
Today’s media exposes children to a lot of interplay and social intercourse that most adults would not engage in. Songs refer to women in derogatory terms, music videos are full of sexy scenes and dances appear to be similar to the act of procreation except the clothes are left on. Clothing styles are often skin tight with lots of cleavage. In spite of the fact that most children do not live in homes where that behavior is celebrated, they often attempt to act that way when they are with each other.
As parents, it is important to be cognizant of the fact that children learn how men and women should relate to each other from the role models around them. Please keep that in mind next time you disagree or the next time one of you messes up. The children are always watching and they learn how to handle life from your example.
Friday, January 15, 2010
Why Alternative Schools?
Every year, as part of our United Way promotion, we put the names of all of our United Way donors into a hat and draw out a name. The winner gets a free day off with me as the substitute. This year’s winner is John Crockett who teaches the Twilight Program at Lake Forest High School. I’ll be filling that order soon.
Twilight is what we call an “alternative” to regular school. When Twilight was first created under the guidance of retired Principal, Dr. Betty Wyatt-Dix, it ran from 2:30 to 6pm each day. The room is set up like a computer lab. Students assigned to that program have available to them the entire high school curriculum on the computers in that classroom. That program has received several awards.
Over the years students have been assigned to that program during the regular school day as well. Some are there to retake a class they failed. Others are there for remediation. I am sure that Twilight has saved many a student from dropping out.
PEAK is another alternative for our high school kids. PEAK is operated for all Kent County and serves many of our discipline problems. Unfortunately they won’t take a student who has brought a weapon or drugs to school. There is limited capacity there and when we send them to PEAK, we lose contact with them. Unfortunately, I wish we had more. Not more Twilight and PEAK programs, more alternative programs.
High school today looks a lot like it did 50-70 years ago. Bells ring and students take classes that the community feels are important to future careers. Kids play sports, sing in the choir or build things in the shop. Sure there’s more technology and more choices, but it’s still much the same as most of us remember it.
Thing is, there are children who don’t do well in that environment. For some it is too crowded. For others, demands at home prevent them from having any interest in the social aspects of school. Some have got in trouble and PEAK won’t take them. Some just can’t seem to get out of bed. Others might need to work for self support or to support a family that has begun way to soon. Yes, some have babies.
That’s why I’d like to see the state someday invest in more alternatives. Some need a boot camp environment. Some need a small, sensitive environment. Some need a part time schedule and some need a full time schedule that starts at noon. The one thing they all have in common – they want to know that there is someone who cares about them. Some find that out easily enough.
But for others, we have to hope that we find them and let them know we care for them, long before they drop out. Because if we don’t. We’ll be caring for them the rest of their lives.
Twilight is what we call an “alternative” to regular school. When Twilight was first created under the guidance of retired Principal, Dr. Betty Wyatt-Dix, it ran from 2:30 to 6pm each day. The room is set up like a computer lab. Students assigned to that program have available to them the entire high school curriculum on the computers in that classroom. That program has received several awards.
Over the years students have been assigned to that program during the regular school day as well. Some are there to retake a class they failed. Others are there for remediation. I am sure that Twilight has saved many a student from dropping out.
PEAK is another alternative for our high school kids. PEAK is operated for all Kent County and serves many of our discipline problems. Unfortunately they won’t take a student who has brought a weapon or drugs to school. There is limited capacity there and when we send them to PEAK, we lose contact with them. Unfortunately, I wish we had more. Not more Twilight and PEAK programs, more alternative programs.
High school today looks a lot like it did 50-70 years ago. Bells ring and students take classes that the community feels are important to future careers. Kids play sports, sing in the choir or build things in the shop. Sure there’s more technology and more choices, but it’s still much the same as most of us remember it.
Thing is, there are children who don’t do well in that environment. For some it is too crowded. For others, demands at home prevent them from having any interest in the social aspects of school. Some have got in trouble and PEAK won’t take them. Some just can’t seem to get out of bed. Others might need to work for self support or to support a family that has begun way to soon. Yes, some have babies.
That’s why I’d like to see the state someday invest in more alternatives. Some need a boot camp environment. Some need a small, sensitive environment. Some need a part time schedule and some need a full time schedule that starts at noon. The one thing they all have in common – they want to know that there is someone who cares about them. Some find that out easily enough.
But for others, we have to hope that we find them and let them know we care for them, long before they drop out. Because if we don’t. We’ll be caring for them the rest of their lives.
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