Young men and women gather in small groups in the early morning fog. Blue and yellow flags with multi-colored ribbons flutter in the breeze. The bright colors and logos carry the company letters. This scene however, does not take place on a battlefield or in one of the nation’s military academies, but each morning at the old Goshen school building, home of the Willamette Leadership Academy, located near the edge of Eugene, Oregon.
Students in this military style school — which has both a high school and middle school campus — are separated into companies by grade level and homeroom. Each company has two staff members, an officer who is a teacher, and a NCO who is usually a former military member, assigned to it. Second Lieutenant Natasha Kuckuck, Charlie company commander — who teaches English and math — says they “try to build a big sense of community within their company.” The company acts as a support system for students with both staff, who supervise their academic activities, and student peers, who work in a team with primarily the same group of students throughout the day.
During the homeroom period, students talk quietly amongst themselves or go to the front to talk with Kuckuck about assignments they need to finish before the end of the quarter. A student with glasses quietly sits toward the front of the room by himself. After a few moments, he gets up and walks toward Kuckuck’s desk. Instead of asking about an assignment, he asks permission to empty the recycling bin. Kuckuck says, “Sure. Thank you.” He carefully picks it up and takes it outside to the dumpster before returning the empty bin to its place and returning to his original seat, seemingly pleased to have been able to help.
Company flags sit outside each classroom designating what class each company is in. As periods change, students march between classes and the company flag travels with them. After homeroom ends, one company leaves and another — tenth grade English students — march into Kuckuck’s classroom and stand at attention behind their chairs. Kuckuck asks what the class mission is and the students recite it together — “read fluently, write clearly, speak confidently, listen attentively, and think critically!”— before being given permission to sit.
Many students end up at WLA either because of poor academics or persistent disciplinary issues at other schools. However, some students choose to experience the military style of education because they either want to join the military later or they (or their parents) see the value in a more disciplined school environment. Sergeant Delanoy, a junior, is one of those students. He first attended WLA as a middle school student and wants to ultimately join the military. Today, he will pin on a new rank as sergeant, an honor rarely achieved as a student. In order to obtain his rank, he says he had to “work harder than most of the cadets here, strive more, you have to have more discipline, more integrity, and can’t get in trouble as much” in addition to passing multiple forms of tests and interviews with multiple panels.
While it’s common to associate the military with forms of punishment, WLA’s staff view their purpose differently — to provide accountability and positively reinforce behaviors through peer accountability and leadership opportunities. Staff, such as Lieutenant Colonel Shannon Cheney, the senior high school administrator, talk about providing both “social and emotional education.” Second Lieutenant Kyle Belknap is in his first year teaching science at WLA. He has been most surprised that “we are given a bit more freedom to teach to the entire individual, not just academic. . . You’re helping to shape not only their academic mind, but their emotions, their behaviors. You’re helping to shape the individual.”
As part of developing more than just academics, students serve in a number of leadership roles within their company. They can be removed from or promoted to positions of leadership at any time. Grades below 70% are considered failing and result in students losing opportunities to serve until meeting that standard. Success is consistently rewarded. At any time a student may be promoted within their company. Each quarter, the school also holds a promotion and award ceremony to celebrate student achievements of new ranks and company achievements.
If corrective action (also referred to as individual training or IT) is needed, a staff member will instruct the student to “Drop” and perform some form of exercise such as pushups. However, the exercise is approached as a way to build students up rather than diminish them. According to Master Sergeant Michael Brewer, Fox Company NCO, “you can do all the IT you want, but it really matters what you say to them.” When implementing individual training, staff ask the student why they are receiving this corrective attention and what steps they need to do in the future. They believe that by immediately addressing a problem, they help students move on from the incident sooner and know what to do in the future. Staff must adhere to specific guidelines when administering corrective action, such as not being able to assign more than 20 repetitions of a single exercise at a time.
Students describe the school as “organized” compared to “public school is not organized” and “strict.” Private Wanetta, a junior, said “a lot of respect has to go around” for the school to function and students to be successful. He is in his first year and describes how he arrived at WLA. “I wanted to go here, but then I didn’t want to, but then my parents made me.” He and his friends are sitting outside on the steps shining their shoes in preparation for the promotion ceremony to begin. They joke about how uncomfortable their dress uniforms are to wear. They may not enjoy all the pushups or like the fact that the school does not have organized sports, but Wanetta thinks he will stay at WLA through graduation anyway. He appreciates that students learn respect and how strong they can be both physically and mentally. Also, because it’s a charter school, students are allowed to participate in sports in other districts if they wish. Wanetta, plays football for Cottage Grove. He chuckles about the effects of school on his life saying, “My parents I usually just call mom and dad, but sometimes I call them sir and ma’am.”
Teachers acknowledge that there are struggles that come with being a charter school, many stemming from finances or managing classes when so many students come to WLA with academic deficiencies. However, the staff seem to enjoy the emotional rewards they get from working with this cohort of students and from engaging in the system set up by the school. Belknap describes the difference as follows, “When given the right kind of audience and motivation, [the students] are able to turn it around. That’s not something that the typical public school normally has time or space for.” With the discipline and culture they create, he asserts, students gain support to be successful and the staff all work toward common goals with each student. Belknap said, “This place would not work for everyone or for all kinds of students, but it definitely works for most of the students who come through here. I’ve been places before where you just can’t reach a student because they need accommodations you can’t give them and this is one of the places where we try to bring those accommodations.” Teachers are also given the flexibility to tailor the curriculum to meet the needs of their students. Second Lieutenant Jeremy Coombs, history and English teacher, says, “We have a little bit more freedom in the curriculum…we have to follow the same standards as everyone else, but we are able to choose how we teach.” Coombs came to WLA after the Marine Corps and worked as a NCO, assisting in a classroom, until he received his teaching degree and started teaching.
In the afternoon, students line the gym in their company formations for today’s award ceremony. The chairs are arranged in the middle of the floor facing the stage. With each award, Cheney and Command Sergeant Major Steve Petterson, deliver a certificate and a handshake. They congratulate each student formally and take a moment to talk with each. For those who are being awarded a new rank, they get to select someone to help “pin on” their new rank to their shoulders. Sometimes these people are family members, other times teachers or staff members. Even teachers are recognized for achieving new ranks, garnering the loudest cheers. Today, Delanoy, Kuckuck, and Coombs all receive new ranks during the ceremony. Companies also receive recognition for good grades and are awarded a ribbon for their flag.
Students mill around in the parking lot after school, waiting for the bus. They congratulate those who have gotten new ranks, gather their backpacks, and a few start a game of hacky sack. As a bus pulls into the parking lot, they rush to meet it while their teachers and officers remind them to line up orderly. They scramble to make sure they have everything before disappearing on the bus for the ride home.
