Alternative School scholarship named for founder

Jake Umphlett will graduate tonight from Jackson High School. Since his freshman year, Umphlett has attended classes at the high school and in a renovated house nearby called the Alternative School. Like most graduates he will have no reason to come back and visit the institution that shaped and formed his adult life.

But many do.

"People come back years later, and the irony is these kids are the ones we couldn't get into school," Jackson principal Rick McClard said.

"They come back to the Alternative School to show off their new sports cars or let the teachers know they decided to go to college," Alternative School teacher Joyce Schroeder said.

Continuing his education was something Umphlett was unsure of, but a scholarship in memory of Gerald Lintner — his teacher and friend — helped change his mind.

"I wasn't getting good grades, mainly D's and F's," Umphlett said. "I used to fight a lot and got into arguments with the teachers. Mr. Lintner showed me how to respect myself, respect others and work hard. He told me how it was going to go. He respected me. We were on a personal level. He was like another friend of mine," Umphlett said.

Umphlett is the recipient of the Alternative School's first $200 Gerald Lintner memorial scholarship. He said he believes he will come back to visit the school where Lintner, one of its co-founders, showed him the ropes and treated him with respect. He plans to attend Cape Career and Technology Center for computer programming.

"My dad is into computers. He works at Nordenia and repairs and programs computers for fun," he said.

"This is just the beginning," said Debora Lintner, Gerald's widow, who endowed the scholarship with memorial funds received in lieu of flowers.

"The neat thing about the memorial scholarship is kids will continue to benefit from Gerald's dedication," she said. Gerald taught for more than 30 years in the Jackson School District, initially teaching American history and coaching at the junior high school.

"This will get me through a couple classes," Umphlett said. With encouragement from his teachers and Debora Lintner, the graduating senior has completed a Free Application for Federal Student Aid for future assistance.

McClard said that before 1997, when the Alternative School was still taking shape, "I had to talk Gerald into taking the job. Jake described exactly what we wanted to happen."

Dr. Howard Jones was the Jackson superintendent who implemented the idea of an alternative school at the high school.

"We were looking at 1996 drop out rates of 3.6 percent and decided that visiting an alternative school in Oklahoma as a prototype was a good idea," McClard said. "After Lintner visited the school he believed he could make a difference and took the job."

"Gerald was the heart of the school. He said, 'Be firm with them but love them too.' I think students feel that," Schroeder said.

"It extends to the other teachers and staff," McClard said.

Connections between students and staff are tight.

"The Alternative School has become a family," McClard said.

Sharing meals is one of the family-type activities students enjoy on a quarterly basis, Schroeder said.

When Lintner was alive he initiated annual wild game cookouts because they appealed to the students and brought out their creativity.

"Many of the students like to hunt," Debora Lintner. The students did all the cooking and had their own way of preparing dishes of snow geese, wild duck and venison.

Alternative School history

"The Alternative School has really evolved," McClard said. "It's successful. Schools from all over Missouri come and look at this one."

McClard said Jackson's graduation rate rose from 81 percent in 1997 to 95.2 percent in 2007. The drop out rate decreased to 1.9 percent in 2006.

What started in a condemned old house with a few students, a director and part-time teacher has risen to a newer house with 92 students, two directors and six part time teachers. All the teachers have dealt with at-risk students before.

The Alternative School is funded through a cooperative effort by the 32nd Judicial Circuit and the Jackson School District.

cpagano@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 133

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