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This is funny. A school for those who feel bullied or discriminated against. Interesting idea, but somehow I don't think it's very good to isolate kids from the rest of society.
So if you are a geek, and bullied in high school, move to Milwaukee. They'll set you up.
What I want to know, is who the bullies are in this new school. I bet you the goths bully the nerds. It seems unlikely there would be no bullies at this school. Whatcha think?
This is going to have the sidebars and advertisements in the quoted text, hopefully it comes out okay
Creating an ally for students
Alliance School to open doors to those who feel bullied, harassed
By SARAH CARR
scarr@journalsentinel.com
Posted: March 6, 2005
Ashley Werner does not mince words when describing her experience as a lesbian at Milwaukee's Pulaski High School.
50770Alliance School
Ashley Werner, 17, a junior at Pulaski High School, talks to friend J. Botsford, a Marquette University student
Photo/David Joles
Ashley Werner, 17, a junior at Pulaski High School, talks to friend J. Botsford, a Marquette University student. Werner says she is often teased and ridiculed at school because she is a lesbian
Quotable
I saw a lot of students who were being bullied and no one was doing anything about
it.
- Tina Owen,
who will become the lead teacher at Alliance School
The students who should be removed ... are those who are doing the harassment.
- Jonathan Turley,
professor of public interest law
From what Ashley has told me, it is going to be for kids who feel different, whether they are smart or gay or just want to be their own
person.
- Lorie Bump,
Ashley Werner's mother
Advertisement
Experience the Most Romantic Hotel in the World!
"If you are even remotely different, (the students) harass and make fun of you," Werner said. The 17-year-old junior said she is teased, called names and singled out almost every day. The situation was no better when Werner attended Clintonville High School as a freshman and sophomore. "I decided that I had had enough with Clintonville and moved down here," Werner said.
Werner hopes her situation will improve next year. She plans to attend the Alliance School, a charter high school that will focus on students who feel discriminated against or bullied. That might be a Goth student, a painfully shy student or a gay one. All three have enrolled in the school, which plans to open in August.
The school will be the first of its kind in the state, and possibly the nation, its founders say.
Last spring, the Milwaukee School Board approved the concept, and school officials are looking for a building. A charter school is publicly funded, but has more autonomy and flexibility than most traditional schools.
"I saw a lot of students who were being bullied and no one was doing anything about it," said Tina Owen, a teacher at Milwaukee's Washington High School who will leave her job to become the lead teacher at Alliance. Some students who look and act different from the mainstream are "really tormented," she said. "I've even seen teachers be really hard on them."
The school will be open to all students, but the focus is on kids who are floundering socially or academically in traditional schools because of harassment or abuse.
"There's one girl who is really shy and quiet and gets picked on a lot," Owen said. "When she heard about the school, she said, 'Can I come? Can I come?' I said, 'Of course.' "
Another student, who dresses in a Goth style, was shunned by some teachers and students.
"The ultimate goal is to give kids a place where they want to come to school," Owen said.
The school has encountered no opposition so far, although Jonathan Turley, a professor of public interest law at George Washington University Law School, said he worries that "the creation of separate schools tends to take pressure away from school administrators to fulfill their basic duties for the student body."
"The students who should be removed from the school are those who are doing the harassment," he said.
Alliance will be small, student-driven and offer classes year round. Because of the size - about 100 students - teachers hope they will be able to connect with each of the students.
"There will be none of this, 'Oh, gosh, who is that one kid?' " said Nicole Powers, a teacher who devised the concept along with Owen.
Not just for gay students
Luke Ashauer, who attends Clintonville High School, is thinking of moving to Milwaukee this summer to go to Alliance. He said his fellow students "are not exactly open to new concepts, such as being gay or just being different."
Ashauer does not expect Alliance to be perfect, but he is tired of other students mockingly imitating him in Clintonville.
"(Alliance) is a school and there are teenagers there, so there is going to be some prejudice," said Ashauer, who is gay. "But at least the school itself will be very student based and driven."
Owen and Powers said they recognized from the start that they did not want the school to serve solely gay and lesbian students. "From the get go, we knew that was one of the markets that would be attracted to our type of school, but it's never been the sole focus," Powers said.
"If you take that group by themselves, what are they learning about the rest of the world, and what is the rest of the world learning about them?" Owen said.
In New York City, Harvey Milk High School, a program geared toward gay and lesbian students, opened a year and a half ago. Almost immediately, a conservative state senator known for his opposition to gay causes sued the school, arguing that it is illegal under New York's sexual bias laws and a waste of taxpayers' money.
Turley, the law professor, strongly opposes the Harvey Milk School, although he is an advocate for gay rights in general. "The school becomes a powerful symbol to be used by abusive and hateful students," he said. "In New York, if you are suspected of being gay, you are sometimes told to go to Harvey Milk. This creates the impression that gay and lesbian students need special protection and have special needs. The focus should be on identifying those homophobic students who need to conform to basic social values or be expelled."
Turley is more optimistic about a school like Alliance, where the mission is defined more broadly, but he still has some concerns.
"High schools are often the last opportunity to instill basic citizenship values, including tolerance for a pluralistic society, and removing victims from that environment is, in many ways, a concession. . . . If these administrators cannot guarantee a healthy and safe environment, the solution is to get new administrators, not create a new school."
Support, not isolation
The teachers at Alliance say their goal is not to isolate or segregate victims, but create an environment where students feel safe, and can learn how to go back out into the community and fight discrimination. They plan to work with groups like Pathfinders and the Counseling Center of Milwaukee to maintain a supportive environment.
"Oftentimes the sheer size makes it very difficult" in traditional schools, Powers said. "I think there are caring teachers and administrators and counselors in every school in the city, but they might be dealing with thousands of kids, and there are policies that the students had no say in, and they had no say in."
The teachers at Alliance are recruiting through school counselors; at Project Q, the youth program of the Milwaukee LGBT Community Center; and at hangouts such as Node Coffee Shop on North Ave.
Lorie Bump, Ashley Werner's mother, said she is happy that there will be "a safe place for kids like Ashley to go and get an education.
"Hopefully they will get away from the cliques and 'keeping up with the Joneses,' " she said. "From what Ashley has told me, it is going to be for kids who feel different, whether they are smart or gay or just want to be their own person."
Werner says she would like to focus on English and psychology in school. She's fascinated by psychology because she thinks the world would be a better place if "people understand why they act the way they do."
Regardless, she's hoping school will be a better place for her next year.
It would be nice if "you could be who you are without fear of being harassed," she said.
From the March 7, 2005, editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Get the Journal Sentinel delivered to your home. Subscribe now.
Alliance School to open doors to those who feel bullied, harassed
By SARAH CARR
scarr@journalsentinel.com
Posted: March 6, 2005
Ashley Werner does not mince words when describing her experience as a lesbian at Milwaukee's Pulaski High School.
50770Alliance School
Ashley Werner, 17, a junior at Pulaski High School, talks to friend J. Botsford, a Marquette University student
Photo/David Joles
Ashley Werner, 17, a junior at Pulaski High School, talks to friend J. Botsford, a Marquette University student. Werner says she is often teased and ridiculed at school because she is a lesbian
Quotable
I saw a lot of students who were being bullied and no one was doing anything about
it.
- Tina Owen,
who will become the lead teacher at Alliance School
The students who should be removed ... are those who are doing the harassment.
- Jonathan Turley,
professor of public interest law
From what Ashley has told me, it is going to be for kids who feel different, whether they are smart or gay or just want to be their own
person.
- Lorie Bump,
Ashley Werner's mother
Advertisement
Experience the Most Romantic Hotel in the World!
"If you are even remotely different, (the students) harass and make fun of you," Werner said. The 17-year-old junior said she is teased, called names and singled out almost every day. The situation was no better when Werner attended Clintonville High School as a freshman and sophomore. "I decided that I had had enough with Clintonville and moved down here," Werner said.
Werner hopes her situation will improve next year. She plans to attend the Alliance School, a charter high school that will focus on students who feel discriminated against or bullied. That might be a Goth student, a painfully shy student or a gay one. All three have enrolled in the school, which plans to open in August.
The school will be the first of its kind in the state, and possibly the nation, its founders say.
Last spring, the Milwaukee School Board approved the concept, and school officials are looking for a building. A charter school is publicly funded, but has more autonomy and flexibility than most traditional schools.
"I saw a lot of students who were being bullied and no one was doing anything about it," said Tina Owen, a teacher at Milwaukee's Washington High School who will leave her job to become the lead teacher at Alliance. Some students who look and act different from the mainstream are "really tormented," she said. "I've even seen teachers be really hard on them."
The school will be open to all students, but the focus is on kids who are floundering socially or academically in traditional schools because of harassment or abuse.
"There's one girl who is really shy and quiet and gets picked on a lot," Owen said. "When she heard about the school, she said, 'Can I come? Can I come?' I said, 'Of course.' "
Another student, who dresses in a Goth style, was shunned by some teachers and students.
"The ultimate goal is to give kids a place where they want to come to school," Owen said.
The school has encountered no opposition so far, although Jonathan Turley, a professor of public interest law at George Washington University Law School, said he worries that "the creation of separate schools tends to take pressure away from school administrators to fulfill their basic duties for the student body."
"The students who should be removed from the school are those who are doing the harassment," he said.
Alliance will be small, student-driven and offer classes year round. Because of the size - about 100 students - teachers hope they will be able to connect with each of the students.
"There will be none of this, 'Oh, gosh, who is that one kid?' " said Nicole Powers, a teacher who devised the concept along with Owen.
Not just for gay students
Luke Ashauer, who attends Clintonville High School, is thinking of moving to Milwaukee this summer to go to Alliance. He said his fellow students "are not exactly open to new concepts, such as being gay or just being different."
Ashauer does not expect Alliance to be perfect, but he is tired of other students mockingly imitating him in Clintonville.
"(Alliance) is a school and there are teenagers there, so there is going to be some prejudice," said Ashauer, who is gay. "But at least the school itself will be very student based and driven."
Owen and Powers said they recognized from the start that they did not want the school to serve solely gay and lesbian students. "From the get go, we knew that was one of the markets that would be attracted to our type of school, but it's never been the sole focus," Powers said.
"If you take that group by themselves, what are they learning about the rest of the world, and what is the rest of the world learning about them?" Owen said.
In New York City, Harvey Milk High School, a program geared toward gay and lesbian students, opened a year and a half ago. Almost immediately, a conservative state senator known for his opposition to gay causes sued the school, arguing that it is illegal under New York's sexual bias laws and a waste of taxpayers' money.
Turley, the law professor, strongly opposes the Harvey Milk School, although he is an advocate for gay rights in general. "The school becomes a powerful symbol to be used by abusive and hateful students," he said. "In New York, if you are suspected of being gay, you are sometimes told to go to Harvey Milk. This creates the impression that gay and lesbian students need special protection and have special needs. The focus should be on identifying those homophobic students who need to conform to basic social values or be expelled."
Turley is more optimistic about a school like Alliance, where the mission is defined more broadly, but he still has some concerns.
"High schools are often the last opportunity to instill basic citizenship values, including tolerance for a pluralistic society, and removing victims from that environment is, in many ways, a concession. . . . If these administrators cannot guarantee a healthy and safe environment, the solution is to get new administrators, not create a new school."
Support, not isolation
The teachers at Alliance say their goal is not to isolate or segregate victims, but create an environment where students feel safe, and can learn how to go back out into the community and fight discrimination. They plan to work with groups like Pathfinders and the Counseling Center of Milwaukee to maintain a supportive environment.
"Oftentimes the sheer size makes it very difficult" in traditional schools, Powers said. "I think there are caring teachers and administrators and counselors in every school in the city, but they might be dealing with thousands of kids, and there are policies that the students had no say in, and they had no say in."
The teachers at Alliance are recruiting through school counselors; at Project Q, the youth program of the Milwaukee LGBT Community Center; and at hangouts such as Node Coffee Shop on North Ave.
Lorie Bump, Ashley Werner's mother, said she is happy that there will be "a safe place for kids like Ashley to go and get an education.
"Hopefully they will get away from the cliques and 'keeping up with the Joneses,' " she said. "From what Ashley has told me, it is going to be for kids who feel different, whether they are smart or gay or just want to be their own person."
Werner says she would like to focus on English and psychology in school. She's fascinated by psychology because she thinks the world would be a better place if "people understand why they act the way they do."
Regardless, she's hoping school will be a better place for her next year.
It would be nice if "you could be who you are without fear of being harassed," she said.
From the March 7, 2005, editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Get the Journal Sentinel delivered to your home. Subscribe now.
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