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lucky for you i've just cleaned out my computer so had a bit of free time. Have a look at this article dragonnija
School for Gays
Walt Whitman Community School
P.O. Box 181781
Dallas, TX 75218
(214) 855-1535
www.waltwhitmanschool.org
While teaching English at an alternative prep school in Texas, Becky Thompson and Pamala Stone noticed a problem: A disproportionate number of youth they knew to be gay were dropping out of high school. So they set out to bring gay youth into the classroom and keep them there.
In 1997 Thompson and Stone founded the Walt Whitman Community School, a gay-friendly high school. They named it after the acclaimed gay writer and poet, says Thompson, because his concentration on “being an individual” seemed appropriate to the school’s mission. That mission, she says, is to provide a “kind of safe haven for kids who are really being harassed” at their regular schools and need to be in an environment where they are accepted and can thrive.
Fulfilling that mission has grown difficult as more students become interested and the staff remains bare-bones (particularly the administrative staff, which is basically just Thompson). Because of this, the school is closed for an overhaul and plans to reopen in 2004.
Whitman’s faculty of three full-time and three part-time teachers handled 18 youth in 2002, more than double the number they started with in 1997. Most of the students commuted from the surrounding metropolitan area, but each year a handful came from farther away, sometimes as far as North Carolina.
The out-of-towners live with volunteer host families. The families are trained by the school after going through reference and background checks and psychological evaluations.
Youth hear about Whitman primarily through its national outreach program or news coverage. A huge boost came with the release this summer of the MTV film “School’s Out: The Life of a Gay High School in Texas.” Filmmakers documented the experiences of eight Whitman students, which sent the phones ringing off the hook, Thompson says.
The students pursue a courseload not unlike their counterparts at other high schools. They take math and science, but profit from small classes of no more than 15 to 20 students. Students also take a psychology class, where they can talk about some of the hardships they face because of their sexual preferences. Otherwise, there is not a huge academic focus on gay issues or gay history.
On Fridays, instead of attending class, students are required to perform community service. This offers hands-on education and a way to stay involved with the larger world around them. Because of harassment they’ve suffered at other schools, Thompson explains, many of the kids have grown confrontational in social interactions. They need tools to “build skills to deal with the real world,” she says. “They still live in it.”
The school has been open to any high school-aged youth nationwide, but the enrollment last spring was about 70 percent gay. Some of the others are children or siblings of gay people.
Aside from hosting students, the community members have also donated money and supplies, which helped to create the school’s computer lab. The school received funding in 2002 from the Texas Instruments ($7,000) and Freddie Mac ($35,000) foundations.
Each student is charged $7,000 a year in tuition, but the money comes from a scholarship fund financed from local contributions. Thompson recently implemented a work-study program for kids to pay off their tuition by doing community work.
Funding aside, Thompson’s biggest problem is obtaining state accreditation. After two applications to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (one in 2000, the other last year), Whitman is still not accredited.
Both applications were denied because of Whitman’s outside funding and lack of tuition base, Thompson says. The association says the school also didn’t meet several requirements dealing with leadership experience, staff development, and the provision of mental and physical health services.
The MTV documentary yielded an influx of interested students nationwide, many of whom were interested in Whitman but also in higher education opportunities. To accommodate that need, Thompson decided to close the school for 2003 and focus all attention on getting accredited.
The goal is to forge a partnership with an accredited school and maintain 501(c)(3) nonprofit status, which Thompson describes as “imminent.” She’s hoping the move will allow the school to continue covering tuition while also making it more accommodating to students who want to go directly to a four-year university.
Without accreditation, Thompson says, Whitman’s students have still been able to attend community colleges, most of which accept diplomas from nonaccredited schools. About 20 have done so, and about 16 others have received GEDs.
Most other youth enter the work force directly, says Thompson.
Asked for a five-year plan, Thompson’s answer is bittersweet: “I’d like there to be acceptance for these kids. I’d like there to be no need for the Walt Whitman School.”
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