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...Don’t judge a book by its cover.
Students at the Floyd County Education Center who have made poor decisions are learning how to make better choices in the future.
For the past seven years, the FCEC Service Learning program is one example of how students are learning the importance of giving back to the community.
“The whole reason we started this (Service Learning program) was to change the negative mindset of what an alternative school is,” said Principal Melinda Strickland.
Every other Wednesday, students divide into groups, each focusing on a different service project. One group organizes a clothes closet for underprivileged people, another builds Adirondack chairs to sell for charity and yet another helps the director of Angel Express clean and sort toys and books for children who don’t have any.
“These are not bad students, they just made bad choices,” Strickland said. “Research shows students drop out of school because the
Keion Harper (right), 11, and Cierra Bagley, 13, sponge down book shelves where books for Angels Express are stored at the Floyd County Education Center.(Lindy Dugger Cordell / RN-T) |
y have no sense of belonging, they can’t connect academics with the real world. This takes academic content and puts it to action, with benefits to the community.”
Harvey Palmer, a parapro at FCEC, housed at the old Johnson Elementary School, heads up a student PR team for the Service Learning program. These students visit each of the other groups, report on their progress and suggest what each could improve.
“The faculty meets and discusses what the PR kids talk about,” said Palmer. “This helps them (the students) make sense of what they’re learning and how they can become productive citizens in the community.”
Eleventh-grader Victoria Ortiz, group leader for the PR group, has participated in both the clothes closet and Angel Express.
“Really when you’re here, people think this is a bad school, but other schools don’t do things like this,” the 17-year-old said.
Woodstock, the name of woodshop group that builds chairs, plans to sell each chair for $50. After accounting for supplies, the money raised will be donated to the Pulmonary Hypertension Association. One FCEC teacher, Sally Maddox, was diagnosed with Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension in 1990.
“Dr. Strickland organized the whole program and I just knew kids like to work with wood, and my father, Bob Boice, came down to help,” said Woodstock director and FCEC social studies teacher. “Hopefully we will be able to do two or three chairs every two weeks.”
“I like working with the wood and measuring,” said senior Dustin Walsh, 18. “It’s helpful with skills outside of the classroom. It relates to what you get to do in the future.”
The FCEC provides warehouse space for Angel Express, and Maddox works with Angel Express director, Janet Baltzer.
During the fall semester, group members prepare for a Christmas toy giveaway. Throughout the year, they distribute goodie bags to different community service groups, such as the Aids Resource Council. And once a semester, students host a party for special education children from Johnson Elementary.
“We made something for elementary kids for Valentine’s Day to let those kids know that someone does love them, and we bagged combs and loofahs for the elderly,” said 11th-grader Nick Price, 17.
“The community probably imagines we do nothing but drugs and steal cars, but we help the community,” said Price, adding, “We learn that helping people makes you feel better as a person.”
Baltzer said that through the continued support of volunteers such as the FCEC students, Angel Express was able to provide gifts to more than 800 individuals in 2008.
“It makes me happy that I can help somebody and make a difference in somebody else’s life,” said Cierra Bagley, 13, a seventh-grader.
The clothes closet project, called Covering the Community, is open year round for anyone in need of clothing.
“Some kids can’t afford clothes,” said 15-year-old freshman Christina McFadden, as she busily rearranged and sorted clothing by size and for male or female. “We really may need to get more winter clothes and some more shoes.”
“This reminds them there are always people in need,” said Strickland. “As individuals it is up to us to recognize to help others; ... it builds not only character, but responsibility and relationships.”
Other service learning groups FCEC currently has include: Webcrawlers, a group that maintains the FCEC’s Web site and goes on virtual field trips; and WAM (We Are Men), which was created to help direct young males toward what it means to be a responsible adult.
The FCEC is not the only local school that has found it beneficial to build ties to the greater community. The Rome Transitional Academy has its Professional Dress Day.
“These are at-risk students, and we always like to present to our students real life experience by exposing them to members of the community who might be positive role models and open up new avenues for those students,” said RTA Principal Jennifer Perkins.
For the Professional Dress Day, students receive extra rewards for dressing up for school. During the fall semester, RTA brought in community business leaders who held mock interviews and provided students with tips for getting a job.
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“When our students dress up, the discipline decreases that day,” said Perkins. “They feel good about themselves and it’s a complete change.”
