Boot camp students learn discipline

September 17, 2007 12:30 am

— TAHLEQUAH — Ninth-grader Dylan Yanez must hold his hands behind his back each time he walks across the Tahlequah Alternative School campus.
He must wear the same black sweats and black shirt as other students. He must spend the whole school day without taking a break to chat with classmates. If he wants to speak, he must stand by his chair and ask, “Permission to speak.”
Dylan said he doesn’t mind the regimentation he must endure at Cherokee County Regimented Education Academy.
“If it wasn’t for this place, I probably wouldn’t be in school right now,” he said.
Since it opened in 2001, the academy has sought to put 200 kids like Dylan on a more disciplined path to good behavior and good education.
Officials at Muskogee Public Schools hope to start a regimented program like Cherokee County’s by second semester. MPS Superintendent Mike Garde said officials are studying the Cherokee County program, as well as a regimented education program in Wagoner.
“We’re wanting to do the best of both,” Garde said. He said regimented programs are good ways to help at-risk kids stay in school and get their diplomas.
The Cherokee County program is based at Tahlequah schools but takes kids grades seven through 12 from any school in Cherokee County, including Keys and Hulbert, said Sgt. Marcus Sams, program director and drill sergeant. He said kids are sent to the program though juvenile court or truancy court.
“Some had just strayed away a bit, cutting class too much,” he said. “This is in no way punishment. This is a redirection.”
Unlike quasi-military educational “boot camps” like Thunderbird Youth Academy in Pryor, the Cherokee County academy does not board students overnight.
But Sams makes no bones about it. From the time they get to the school at 8:50 in the morning to the end of school at 3:30 p.m., those kids maintain strict, military discipline.
“They move from one room to another with their hands behind their back and do not stop and mess with anyone,” Sams said. “When they go to class, I make them sit in the front of the class. They need to be listening to the teacher, not back socializing.”
Boys must get their hair buzz-cut, girls must wear their hair tied back and up off their necks. All students must wear black sweat pants and black T-shirts, or sweat-shirts in cold weather.
They must eat together during lunch, but may not speak with each other. There’s no break after lunch either.
Any time they speak, they must stand, address the sergeant or their teacher with, “Permission to speak.”
If a student needs to use the rest room, the student asks permission in that manner. When granted permission, the student must ask, “Permission to carry on.”
There also is plenty of rigorous activity.
“Instead of having students go to the principal’s office, I may have them do push-ups,” Sams said.
As part of the Tahlequah Alternative School, the academy is in session whenever Tahlequah Public Schools are in session. The only times kids can get out of school are for doctors’ visits, with a note from the doctor, and for family funerals.
No extracurricular activities either, not even if a student is the best linebacker or best trumpet player in the county.
“That’s part of their ‘want-to’ to get them back in the regular school,” Sams said.
Students stay in the program at least a school trimester, or 13 weeks, he said.
Their maximum term?
“As long as it takes to get them straight,” Sams said. “This is basically their last chance to stay here in Cherokee County, their last chance to stay in school.”
Sams said the academy has had a 68 to 70 percent success rate.
He recalled one student who had gotten in trouble with drugs, and “they put her through the program.”
“She was a train wreck when she got here, but we kept messing with her and kept messing with her until she got better,” he said.
By “messing with her,” Sams said he means that he and academy teachers and counselors “stayed with her and would not let her quit.”
Tahlequah Alternative School Principal Sheryl Ridenour, who oversees the academy, said the academy has space for 20 students, but currently has nine.
Sams said one change he’s noticed in the past six years is that the students are getting younger.
Dylan was in eighth grade when he entered the academy. He said he has seen improvement in his behavior and attitude.
“It’s made me more respectful to my parents,” he said.
Students who complete the program can return to their high school. Some students graduated from high school while still in the program.
“They get the same Tahlequah High School diploma other students do,” Sams said.
Dylan said he may eventually go to high school.
“But I’ll miss the structure,” he said.
Reach Cathy Spaulding at 918-684-2928 or Click Here to Send Email

Photos

Students at Cherokee County Regimented Education Academy in Tahlequah walk supervised from one building to another with their hands behind their back.