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Hernando Today

Keeping Unruly Kids In School

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By TONY MARRERO

Hernando Today

Published: October 25, 2008

BROOKSVILLE - Tyquon Carr's mouth got him in trouble recently.

When asked what happened, the seventh-grader at Parrott Middle School in Brooksville hesitates, then fesses up.

"Inappropriate language," he finally says, "at a teacher."

That kind of offense is grounds for out-of-school suspension. Carr could have been sent home for a day or two or even three, and there's no guarantee he would get his schoolwork. In fact, he admits he's been through that before.

But after this most recent incident, Carr stayed at school. He's one of the first students to take part in Parrott's Alternative to Suspension, or PATS program. Instead of heading home for what is meant to be discipline but often becomes a vacation, students are engaged to rigorously reflect on the act that got them there and to keep up with the schoolwork they would have otherwise missed.

The program is the brainchild of the Rev. Clarence Clark, pastor of Shiloh New Beginning Pillar of Truth Church in Brooksville. A longtime Brooksville resident and active community volunteer who helped start mentoring programs at Parrott, Hernando High and the district's Star Education Center, Clark said he grew alarmed by the increasing rates of school suspensions.

Many wind up at staying at home all day, unsupervised and without the coursework they need to keep up with the class - a counterproductive way to encourage improvement in a child already having problems, he said.

"It could cause them to fall so far behind it's impossible to catch up," Clark said. "What we really want to do is keep these kids in school."

The PATS program focuses on "character building," he said. Gone are the days when students are forced to write the same sentence on the blackboard a hundred times. But each student who comes to the PATS room next door to the gym must write out the definitions of the seven building blocks of character: caring, responsibility, accountability, citizenship, integrity, morality and compassion.

When students groan about the rote work, Clark offers a standard reply: "If you knew what all of these meant, you wouldn't be here."

Clark then sits down for a heart-to-heart to tackle the questions. Why are you here? What caused you to behave this way? What should you have done differently?

After that, it's on to course work, Clark said. Teachers drop off or e-mail assignments, and Clark and paraprofessional Yvette Hart make sure it gets done.

It's not supposed to be fun, says Hart, a petite woman with a booming voice when she has to use it when the kids complain about having to actually do classwork.

Hart's reply: "This isn't Burger King. You're not getting it your way."

But with just a handful of students in the room at a time, the one-on-one attention tends to help students stay nearly on pace with their classmates. If the regular coursework gets completed, Hart works on the reading and math skills crucial to perform well on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test.

"The kids really respond to being in this environment," Clark says.

Seventh-grader Daniel Looper says he did. Looper, 13, wasn't written up for any specific offense, but is an example of how officials hope to use the PATS preemptively, before an offense occurs.

When asked why he thought he should take part, Looper said he'd had some "anger management" issues and said Clark helped talk him through it.

"I'm a lot more respectful to my elders now," Looper says. When asked what helped him the most, he said, "It was the one-on-one contact, just me and him."

"I think that's what really helped Daniel," said Looper's mother, Carla. "He's able to talk about his frustrations in school, the typical things teenagers go through."

Keisha Brown, Tyquon's mother, agreed. She said Clark is the key.

"They've could've picked no better person," she said. "He's really good with the kids."

Parrott Principal Leechele Booker said the program so far has "exceeded our expectations."

But Booker has set the bar high. Parrott had 166 out-of-school suspension days last year, and she wants to cut that by 40 percent.

Clark wants to take the program to other schools in the district. Superintendent Wayne Alexander says he's hopeful that will happen, though he acknowledges it will take more volunteers like Clark, who puts in more than 30 hours a week, to step forward.

"I think there are a few Pastor Clarks in this world," Alexander said. "I wish I had a hundred of him."

On Friday, the door to the PATS room opened and a tall seventh-grade girl with blond hair walked in.

"What are you doing in here again?" Clark asks.

Someone threw paper at her, she said, so she threw something back.

"She didn't learn the definition of control," Clark says, shaking his head. "We'll have to have her write it down."

Reporter Tony Marrero can be reached at 352-544-5286 or lmarrero@hernandotoday.com.

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