Burchell introduces Quality Schools Model

WASILLA -- For many students, Burchell isn't so much a last chance as it is a better chance.

The alternative school has always been a haven for students in nontraditional situations -- those who have to work full time, those who have children or other special circumstances -- to give them a way to graduate from high school while also dealing with sometimes adverse or unusual situations.

Toward this end the school kicks off a new program this year based on the Quality Schools Model, developed by the William Glasser Institute.

The program is designed to make education more hands-on and practical for students, particularly those preparing to enter the work force and the real world -- a design that seems particularly suited to Burchell students, since often the reason they are there in the first place is because they are already dealing with the real world.

Aided in part by a $670,000 grant from the Reinventing Schools Coalition, Burchell High and Valley Pathways schools are reshaping their curriculum and schedules beginning this year to give students a more hands-on, real-world approach to their high school education.

Planning and training sessions took place over the summer, with participation from both teachers and students, to develop standards and establish clear goals for the revamped curriculum. Some teachers, such as social studies teacher Vicki Hewitt, decided to introduce students to the Quality Schools Model on the first day of school.

After the assembly, when Hewitt got all her students in class and seated, she wrote the words "reinvent schools" on the blackboard and asked the class why anyone would want to reinvent schools.

She also asked them what they would use their schooling for, why they need the knowledge and how will it help them.

Then Hewitt put up a sheet on the overhead projector with the header, "Top 10 qualities Fortune 500 companies look for in a new employee." The list of qualities went in order of priority and at the top was teamwork, followed by problem solving, interpersonal skills and oral communication. At the end of the list were writing and computation.

Hewitt's point was that schools could do more to prepare students for the work force; the requisite skills for many jobs go beyond the traditional nuts and bolts of a public school education.

"We're not going to spend a whole lot of time in a textbook this year," Hewitt said to her government class on Tuesday morning. "You're going to be a lot more active in your learning."

With that goal in mind, Hewitt split the class up into groups to practice the first quality on the Fortune 500 list: Teamwork. Students were to work together to balance 14 nails on a single nail sticking out of a board. Students who knew the trick, however, had to sit out and not give away the method.

One such student was senior Sean Isley. This is Sean's first year at Burchell, and his reasons for transferring from Wasilla High exemplify the principles in the Quality Schools Program.

Sean is going to Burchell because he has a full-time job and an apartment for which he must pay rent. He is also taking a web design class at Palmer High and is looking for another job in Wasilla. Even with so much on his plate, he hopes to graduate by Christmas.

Burchell will be making it even easier for students to take classes around work schedules this year with an expanded class schedule that will offer classes before and after the school day, including more evening classes. Burchell currently has 45 students enrolled in evening classes.

The expanded schedule was made possible in part by a 21st Century Learning Center Grant from the state Department of Education.

Burchell's school nurse, Diane Demoski, wrote the grant and said it will provide $500,000 a year for five years to assist in expanding the class schedule and maintaining a reading, writing and mathematics lab.

"I really like it here so far," Sean said. "Everyone seems really accepting, it's not so combative. And the administration works with the students more, they make it easier to work around work schedules and stuff like that."

Contact John Davidson at john.davidson@frontiersman.com.