Caledonia Argus

Learning Center provides classroom alternative

Posted: 4/22/03

by Andrew Miller
Argus News Reporter

A traditional high school setting is not for everyone. For 12 years Bluff Country Learning Options in Hokah has provided a viable alternative for area students to whom a standard high school is a precarious environment.

ìKids who come here are kids who for whatever reason werenít being as successful as they could be in a traditional setting,î said BCLO On-site Director John Haugen.

Minnesota legislation allows school districts to establish area learning centers. BCLO is one such center, and it draws students who qualify as being ìat-riskî, which is to say, students at risk of not graduating from high school.

ìTheyíre kids who are behind their peers in terms of credits, kids who are pregnant, kids who are parents, kids whoíve encountered anything getting in the way of traditional school,î Haugen noted. ìI think many of the kids who come here have not had good relationships in the traditional setting, and because of the intimate nature of this place, itís a situation where you build relationships.î

36 students attend BCLO full timeñ six hours a day, five days a week, just as at a traditional high schoolñ and four teachers facilitate their education. The student-teacher ratio, well below the state high school average, allows students to get to know their instructors and peers better, Haugen said, and this helps students develop into responsible adults. The curriculum at BCLO is comparable to that of, say, La Crescent High School, but fewer students per teacher means more firsthand instruction and more interpersonal contact.

ìThe bigger you get, the less intimacy you have, the less you get to know each other,î Haugen said. ìBecause of our size, the staff does a good job of responding to and rewarding good behaviors, making students feel honored, trusted, respected.î

Haugen contends that the students themselves are the backbone of the BCLO environment, and the burden is on them to make the program successful. For kids whoíve struggled with the standard high school, he noted, they have been exceptional in creating an atmosphere in which personal growth becomes inevitable.

ìStudents make the program, and weíve just had year after of good students come here,î he remarked. ìWe have kind of a model for the environment hereñ one of security, belonging, trustñ and these kids really buy into that model. We try to promote tolerance, and you get to be recognized for being yourself.î

The proof is in the pudding, as the adage goes, and what becomes of BCLO students after they graduate is an indication of how well the program succeeds in shaping young minds. Just as at a traditional high school, graduates have gone on to four-year colleges and two-year technical schools, and many have entered the workforce directly. These were the same kids at risk of not graduating from high school, yet after completing coursework at BCLO, they realize the same milestones as their peers at traditional high schools.

Yet the benchmark of BCLOís success, Haugen thinks, is the sheer volume of former students who return to BCLO to visit, years after they graduated. Between three and five alumni stop by BCLO each week, and the feedback is always positive.

Danyel Romann, a 2002 graduate of BCLO, moved to Houston County during her sophomore year of high school. She attended La Crescent High School for two months, but said she had a difficult time adjusting to the new environment. She soon switched to BCLO, which she said made the transition to the area immensely more manageable.

ìI loved everything at BCLO, they helped me a lot in dealing with the change,î she said. ìThere were fewer people, it was easier to get along with people, and you don't have to deal with the high school drama, you can just get your work done.î

That BCLO incorporates a lot of vocational-type training, Romann said, is a major perq of the program. ìThey teach you a lot of work-related information to prepare you for the future,î she commented.

Though Haugen insists that exemplary students are the primary reason BCLO has been met with such success, Romann tends to think that it is the dedication and compassion of the BCLO staff, especially Haugen, that inspires the students to achieve. ìHaugen adapted me to this area more than anyone else,î Romann said, ìhe made things fun instead of depressing, and he made me a stronger person.î

Jesse Schultz, also a BCLO alumnus, is another outspoken advocate of the program. Having spent two years at Caledonia High School, he felt a change was in order. ìI wasnít having problems learning per se, I was having problems with authority,î he said. ìI went over there (to BCLO) and they were encouraging of individualism. The things youíd be ridiculed for in your typical high school, youíre empowered for at BCLO.î

In agreement with Romann, Schultz said the teachers create a setting in which it becomes difficult not to do well. ìThe teachers there are just amazing people,î he said. ìThey do so much good, they take the at-risk students and they just turn them around. Itís a really good feeling to know that the teachers really care about you, thatís what I needed when I went there. You want to work hard because theyíre so good to you, and you donít want to disappoint them.î

ìItís not your typical student-teacher relationship,î he added. ìItís a different kind of bond formed here, one thatís based on mutual respect. You just have a bond and a friendship, and for me it made a huge difference.î

Schultz is one of many success stories of which BCLO boasts. After graduating in 1999 he went on to launch a marketing firm, and is at present a co-owner of Katmandu Trading Company, located in Hokah just across the street from BCLO. The close proximity, he said, is a constant reminder of the lessons he learned there. As a businessman, he has been vocal in supporting fair trade practices, and craftsman producing items his store carries, most of which are of Third World origin, receive fair wages. The ideals shaping his business, he said, stem directly from his time at BCLO.

ìOne of the main reasons for getting into this business was to help people who are impoverished, people struggling financially, and I think I got my want of trying to help people from there (BCLO),î he said. ìI was a much more tolerant and accepting person when I left there. It definitely rubs off on you.î

Though nearness to BCLO helps him remember why he started his business, a main reason he opened shop there, he said, deals more with the people with whom he gets to stay in contact.

ìBeing next to BCLO, itís the perfect place, because itís a comfort to keep ties with it,î Schultz said.

ìItís a family, and youíre not going to find that anywhere else.î

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