JENNINGS, La. — It's now been more than a month since the ribbon cutting on the re-branded alternative school, James Ward Center for Excellence. In that short time, students, faculty, and staff say they've noticed a major shift.
Take 10-year-old Asher Hardee for example. In the fourth grade, he says the school, while non-traditional, has been a place where he feels comfortable enough to learn and grow.
"This school is probably the best school you could ever go to," he tells KATC. "Inside I'm a really good guy, and outside I'm also good so if you met me on the street and you were sad or something, I would make you feel better."
A science-loving student with dreams of growing up and going into the military, then working at the plant, Asher says in the traditional classroom, it wasn't always easy to focus. For him, efforts by the staff to make learning accommodating and fun make all the difference — but it also has to do with the environment as a whole.
"The campus, it had been empty for a year and when we first began the process, we kind of wanted to re-brand the school," says principal Lori Lemons. "We wanted to get away from the negative thoughts they had about kids coming to the alternative school because we're so much more than an alternative school."
Lemons says it's something that can't be done without a good team of teachers. Teachers like Kimberly Harris.
"My purpose is to make sure they're equipped for the world," Harris, an educator with 21 years of experience, tells KATC. "If that is me coming in like a momma, an auntie, not so much a friend, but someone who makes them feel safe, that is what I'll do despite what they might go through at home."
Harris takes her own experience being raised by a family of teachers to enrich the lives of students today. While times have changed, she agrees many facts of life remain the same. Still, she realizes there is a line that has to be drawn — for her, quite literally.
"There's a learning line on the floor, that line is for them to stand there and say, 'Hey, I can make a choice to be productive or not,' so before they even sit down at their station, they stand there at that line and talk to themselves and get themselves ready to learn."
It's something students like Asher not only appreciate but agree makes an impact not only now, but in the future.
"I'm in a really good position," Asher says. "So as I go, I need to keep being in this position."
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