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Debrah Whaley will teach at the new alternative middle school in the Boys and Girls Club building in Talent. Photo by Bob Pennell No more waiting for trouble First alternative middle school aims to solve problems early By JONEL ALECCIA TALENT -- If years of teaching high school alternative education classes taught Debrah Whaley anything, it's that the best time to reach out to troubled kids is before they're in trouble. The real trick is to get them early, before they're so big and bad and embroiled in problems that they can't escape, says Whaley, the newly hired teacher for Jackson County's first off-campus alternative school for middle-schoolers. "When I talk to kids who are 16 and 17 and ask them, `What were you doing in the seventh and eighth grades?' they say that's when they first started doing drugs," Whaley says. "That's when they wanted to hang out with older kids. That's when they started looking for reasons to skip school." Reaching kids before they're entrenched in those behaviors is one goal of the new school, run jointly through Talent Middle School and the Boys and Girls Club of Jackson County. It's targeted toward 11- to 13-year-olds who have trouble academically, socially -- or both. Helping those kids succeed in class and in their community is another goal, says Dave Willard, superintendent of the Phoenix-Talent School District. "Waiting until they're 15 and dropping out of school is too late," he says. "We're trying to intervene now." The school is the culmination of several years of planning, plus a jump start from the Boys and Girls Club, which offered to outfit its teen center on Wagner Creek Road as a classroom. "The space is a school by day, a teen center by night," says Whaley, 46, who plans to start lessons with her first 15 students in October. Last year, a survey showed 40 to 50 of the school's 650 students were identified as "at-risk" by teachers, said Patricia Kinney, TMS assistant principal. It's the first off-campus alternative middle school program in the county, though the Medford and Eagle Point districts, for example, offer separate classes for at-risk kids. In Josephine County, there are three alternative middle schools, Whaley says. At the Talent site, study cubicles and desks will soon join the video games and ping-pong table used for the Boys and Girls Club after-school program. The cooperation will extend to staff, says Tom Cole, director of operations for the club. Nationally tested programs on issues such as conflict resolution, drug and alcohol abuse, and teen pregnancy will be a regular part of the students' day. The kids will also be encouraged to hang around for recreation programs that extend into the evening, Cole says. "We want them to build an identity with this program," he says. "We want them hooked in during the day and after school." But the program isn't all play, Whaley stresses. "The curriculum is geared to CIM standards," she says -- the Certificate of Initial Mastery that is part of strict new state guidelines. "These kids will take the state assessment tests." Exactly who the kids will be isn't clear yet, organizers say. The program is aimed at students at risk of dropping out of school for academic or personal reasons. They're children who work better in smaller groups, with individualized, hands-on instruction. No one will be required to attend the alternative school; students and their parents will decided whether to enroll. Organizers stress that kids will remain part of the larger TMS community. "We don't want them feeling like they're stuck over here," says Whaley. "It's just, like, for your core classes you're here." Kids will be encouraged to participate in band, choir, sports and other activities, she adds. And they'll be encouraged to return to regular classes as soon as possible. How many get back on track will be one measure of the school's success, Whaley says. She'll also be looking for steady attendance, higher grades and fewer behavior problems. Mostly, though, she'll be watching for kids who seem happier with school -- and themselves. "There's a deep love and compassion I have for alternative kids," says Whaley, whose wide smile and ample lap will welcome youngsters. "It's so hard to go to school when you're hungry or cold or you don't have a good family." (Families reporter JoNel Aleccia can be reached at the Mail Tribune's Ashland bureau at 482-4646.) Today's News Index,