BROWNSTOWN

A girl was only two credits shy of graduating from Brownstown Central High School, but she was working full time.

She enrolled in the new alternative school, worked hard and earned her two credits. Now, she is a high school graduate.

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A senior needs four classes to graduate, but he works to help support his family. He, too, has worked hard and is finishing one class at a time.

Another girl needed an elective credit, but the class she wanted to take isn’t offered at the high school. It is, however, among the online courses offered in the alternative school, so she is taking that now.

Some students have anxiety issues or get distracted in a normal classroom setting, and some can’t complete their work during regular class time. In the alternative school, those aren’t issues. They can work at their own pace.

It’s safe to say the new alternative school has been a big benefit to Brownstown students.

“These are the kids that should be successful but aren’t,” said Randy Greene, director of alternative education for Brownstown Central Community School Corp. “They are kids that we know have the ability, the capability, the desire to do well, but as with anyone, there are barriers, and they may not be able to clear the barrier.”

He said it’s like trying to clear hurdles.

“You might be able to clear that first one, you might be able to clear that second one, but you know what? By the third one, their legs are giving out a little bit,” Greene said. “You have kids that can clear hurdles easily, and you have kids that need a little help.”

The alternative school is structured to help students take the classes and pass the tests they need to move forward in their education and in life.

“They have to pass all of this stuff going through to get that credit, and they can see the goal line clearly,” Greene said. “I tell them all of the time, ‘Every minute you waste in here is a minute longer you’re going to be in here because it’s up to you.’ That speaks clearly to them. They understand it as a job that needs completed instead of just time that I need to sit here.”

While the alternative school just started a couple of months ago, corporation officials have been talking about establishing it for several years.

Greene said a previous superintendent knew he had been involved in adult and alternative education at North Lawrence and Mitchell schools for a decade and had asked him if that would work at Brownstown.

One issue was finding the right place to house the alternative school, but the guidance department, administrators and school board came together to make it happen.

Since the start, it has been conducted from noon to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday in the meeting room at the administration office.

Soon, though, it will move to the visitors locker room at Blevins Memorial Stadium. Once air conditioning is added and internet is connected, Greene and his 15 students can begin meeting there.

He said that will be a better location because of the proximity to the high school, where administrators, guidance counselors, a nurse and the cafeteria are nearby and kids won’t have to drive or take a bus to get to and from there.

Students are referred to the alternative school by a guidance counselor or an administrator.

The length of time spent there varies depending on the student’s needs. The PLATO Edmentum program offers more than 200 classes for students to take on their Chromebook.

“These classes are hard,” Greene said. “The math classes, there are no worksheet-style answers. They are all word problems. They have to figure this out and then apply the math they’ve learned. … The genius of the program is that if they need to take twice as long to do the math, that’s fine. The class doesn’t move on without them.”

Every section of a course has a mastery test that requires at least an 80 percent score before a student can move on to the next chapter. Then there is a unit test and an end-of-semester test that they have to pass to earn credits.

Greene now has 15 students taking 13 different classes, and he is there to answer questions when they don’t understand something.

At any one time, he may be answering questions about onomatopoeia, the Cold War, slope-intercept and predicate nominative.

“This is about as intense as the teaching experience can get because you’re having to keep track of 13 different classes,” Greene said. “I’m trying to do algebra 2, and then another kid is in biology and another kid is in algebra 1 and another one is in economics and government. You’ve got to be able to do all of this stuff.”

His specialty is social studies. He teaches psychology and economics at the high school in the morning before leading the alternative school.

“You’ve got to have somebody that’s willing to challenge the kids, give them a little bit of a breaking period, push them along a little bit, let them see success and then all of a sudden, it clicks with them,” he said. “Once they start seeing success, they want more success because we all know success feels good. Once you get a kid that gets one credit in here, they go, ‘I got a credit. That’s awesome.’”

Seniors Bridget Hall and Brandon O’Hair are among the current alternative school students.

O’Hair already has taken English 11, government and economics classes and earned credits. Then he will need two 12th-grade English classes and be done with school.

Hall also finished an English class and is now taking an elective photography class.

Both are glad the alternative school became an option for Brownstown students this school year.

“I get to work at my own pace instead of doing it with the whole class because sometimes, I need more time to work on one thing certain,” O’Hair said.

“I think everyone learns different ways, and you can’t really put everyone into a box,” Hall said. “I thrive here because I get to work at my own pace and I get to be alone and I don’t have to spend eight hours at school. I can just spend three hours here alone doing my own stuff.”

Hall said she tried online classes in the past, but she didn’t like it.

“I felt like I couldn’t get motivated enough,” she said. “Here with Mr. Greene, it’s really nice because he can push you to get stuff done.”

Both students also said the alternative school allows them to fit a job into their schedule.

For some students, if they didn’t have the option of alternative school, they may not graduate on time or at all.

“I think it really gives kids that wouldn’t necessarily be at the same advantage of graduating and having the same opportunities,” Hall said. “At the end of the day, a high school diploma is super-important. (The alternative school) gives kids the chance to get a diploma.”

Greene said he has been a part of other school corporations, but Brownstown’s dedication to students at all skill levels is second to none.

“What it comes down to is Brownstown has made an investment in making sure every kid is served,” he said. “It’s not just athletes. It’s not just valedictorians. It’s everybody. That’s important that you recognize the importance of everybody. … Everybody has to have an opportunity, and that’s what we’re doing here — just giving them a chance to do well.”