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.