McMullen to lead alternative education center

Scott McMullen knows what "at-risk" feels like.

He lived it.

McMullen grew up in a Cape Girardeau home that was littered with alcohol and drug abuse, hunger pangs and a father moving in and out of prison.

"Most days we didn't have much food to eat, with the exception of cornflakes cereal," he said. "I know what it's like going home to no food in the house but to see thousands of dollars worth of drugs being consumed by people I didn't know."

Education was the least of his worries, somewhere behind mere survival.

But McMullen says he had an influential teacher in his life who taught him more than math and science; she taught him how to believe in himself. Despite all the challenges he faced in his young life, McMullen made education his life's focus, and he has made it a priority for the hundreds of students he has taught in his career -- in the classroom and in the juvenile detention hall.

Now, this former "at-risk kid" brings his experiences to Cape Girardeau public school students who are on the academic and social edge.

McMullen, a fifth-grade math and science teacher at Cape Girardeau Central Middle School, has been selected to lead the Cape Girardeau Alternative Education Center. He replaces Carla Fee, who recently was tapped to fill the vacant principal position at Cape Girardeau Central Junior High School. Both assume their new duties in June.

McMullen, a 1987 graduate of Cape Girardeau Central High School, said the opportunity affords him the chance to give back to the education community that helped him achieve.

"I grew up in an at-risk environment myself, where the only thing that kept me from being in the criminal justice system is the fact that I did get an education," he said. "A lot of friends I grew up with are in prison because they did not get an education."

As principal of the alternative education center, McMullen said he wants to make sure the students, many on the brink of academic failure, are not focused on the "negative aspects of their home life," that they have meaningful learning experiences.

It took some hard times and a lot of hard work to get to where he is, McMullen said.

He credits retired Cape Girardeau School District educator Cathy Cook, his fourth-grade math teacher at Clippard Elementary, for seeing his potential.

"Instead of focusing on the negative, she emphasized the positive. She always had positive things to say to me," McMullen said. "That was a turning point."

The teacher earned his bachelor's degree in elementary education from Southeast Missouri State University and his master's in education administration at William Woods University in Fulton, Mo. He said he worked 50 to 60 hours a week and helped his mom raise his younger sister, 10 years his junior, while pursuing his college education.

McMullen began as a parochial preschool teacher while at Southeast, spending six years in pre-K education. For 15 years he spent his summers as a staff educator and evening supervisor at the Cape Girardeau County Juvenile Detention Center, one of six centers in Missouri that faces possible closure. He said the experience taught him some important skills in dealing with at-risk populations.

"You see the risk factors that contribute to students dropping out," he said. "Lack of success in school leads to juvenile delinquency or crime."

Last year, McMullen moved into Cape Girardeau's public school system, taking the teaching position at the middle school. Before that, he spent 10 years teaching fifth grade at Jackson's West Lane and South Elementary schools.

McMullen also is an adjunct professor at Southeast, a position he's held since 2008. The father of four coaches basketball and football for the Big Brothers Big Sisters program in Cape Girardeau. From his time in pre-K and elementary school classrooms to his work with juvenile delinquents and college students, McMullen has taught at every level.

"Scott McMullen brings to the AEC successful experience in classroom instruction, leadership and extensive work with the juvenile system," Pat Fanger, assistant superintendent of the Cape Girardeau School District, said in a news release. "We are confident that Mr. McMullen is a perfect fit for this building and will continue the excellent work that is already being done by Mrs. Carla Fee and her staff."

The educator who spent his early life on the margins said he wants to serve as a positive role model for at-risk students.

"I can be an example of what hard work can do," he said.

mkittle@semissourian.com

388-3627

Pertinent address:

301 N. Clark Ave., Cape Girardeau, MO