ON THE ROPES

WASILLA — Early Thursday morning, as the fall chill hung in the air, a group of students from Wasilla Middle School was figuratively hanging in the air, too.

Behind Burchell High School, 20 feet in the air, these seventh- and eighth-grade students were challenging themselves to cross the void on Burchell’s high ropes course.

With Burchell students lending assistance and encouragement, the Wasilla students slowly inched their way across the ropes, earning small successes one rope length at a time.

The event was part of a program within Wasilla Middle School, aptly called School Within a School (SWS).

The idea of the program, officials say, is to create a small classroom environment of a maximum 15 students to offer a little extra help to those facing special challenges during their academic day.

And according to teachers, the idea seems to be working.

“You form a real tight bond with our class, which translates into a healthy learning environment,” said Brian Beaudry, the SWS teacher.

Large class sizes are a common complaint among public school teachers in America today. Even in small towns, many administrators are struggling to keep up with the growing population of students straining teaching resources. The problem can sometimes lead to struggling students being left behind, many experts say.

That’s what Beaudry and Wasilla Middle are trying to combat with the SWS program.

School Within a School runs just one semester, meaning Beaudry and the SWS counselor, Donna Kimball, have just 12 to 13 weeks to make an impact.

To do so, the first action both educators take is to get what they call the most important ingredient into the mix: parents.

“One of the first things to do in a school year is get in touch with parents and talk to them and get them involved in the classroom,” Beaudry said.

Kimball is typically the point person for this task, and says making regular phone calls to parents helps her achieve that goal.

“I try to pretty much make a parent-classroom connection as much as I can,” she said.

From there, along with other lessons, Kimball reaches out to the community, bringing in speakers from a range of professions and with varying life experiences.

“They get it straight from the source,” Kimball said, adding kids like to hear a different voice every once in a while.

For at least one student, the School Within a School has been a success.

Jennifer Merkt, an eighth grader at Wasilla Middle, said she’s seen a lot more success academically since joining the program.

The No. 1 benefit, at least for Merkt, is the chance to focus solely on her studies.

“I like it because I can get my work done without my friends being in here,” Merkt said. “When they are, I don’t get more work done.”

The class also sets weekly goals for students struggling in certain subjects, and Kimball makes sure they have their homework if they’re out of school for a day.

One of the biggest goals of the SWS program lies with boosting the students’ confidence, Beaudry and Kimball said.

That’s where the ropes course comes in.

“It builds an enormous sense of accomplishment and success,” Kimball said.

What seems like a fun day out of the classroom was actually being used to boost confidence to the point it translated into the school day, Beaudry said.

Whether each student had a fear of heights or not, the sense of accomplishment when a student made it across the rope as their classmates cheered them on did the job it was meant to do, Kimball said.

Couple that with a small class size — which Kimball said makes it easier for students to raise their hands because of their comfort level — and Beaudry and Kimball’s high hopes are being realized.

Kimball said the still buzzing, post-ropes-course class of students seemed extra invigorated to work that much harder to pull their grades up Friday.

“The kids are still talking about this morning,” she said.

Contact Michael Rovito at michael.rovito@frontiersman.com or 352-2252.