SCHOOL PLANS MOVE TO CENTER

Cape Girardeau's Alternative Education Center will move to the Cape Civic Center next month.

John Jenkins, president of the board of the reorganized Civic Center, said, "I feel like it's a win-win situation for the alternative school and the Civic Center."

The alternative school needs additional space and the Civic Center is looking for steady programming in the building at 232 Broadway.

A portion of the building is designated for the alternative school; the gymnasium and remainder of the building will be used by the Civic Center.

The alternative school has operated at the Salvation Army, 701 Good Hope, since it opened in November 1995. Bill Biggerstaff, assistant superintendent, said the Salvation Army has been gracious, "but we've started to outgrow the facility."

About 50 students are enrolled in the program. Most are from Cape Girardeau Central High School. Others are from Jackson and area school districts, which are expressing more interest in the program. The program has funding for up to 80 students.

Sheldon Tyler, director of the alternative school, said: "We try to service non-traditional students. These are students who, for an abundance of reasons, don't fit into the norm. We are giving them an alternative to traditional high school. Kicking them out is not the only alternative."

In addition, teachers try to use alternative teaching techniques, Tyler said. For example, students attend classes just half a day, giving many a chance to work.

This semester students will have a chance to participate in a new Learn to Earn program, Tyler said. Students will set up a small business and will market and sell a product and service, earning money and class credit. Sixteen new computers will be installed at the Civic Center for students' use. The goal is to encourage employment skills.

Students in the building-trades class at the Area Vocational-Technical School are completing renovations at the Civic Center. When finished, the center will have four classrooms, a workroom for teachers and an office for the director. Tyler expects the move to take place during the first week of February.

Since the Civic Center isn't used during school hours, the move made sense, Tyler said.

Jenkins said the alternative school and the Civic Center share many goals. The program has a new board of directors and is in the beginning stages of developing new programs.

"We will definitely be more educational and cultural in our programming," Jenkins said. "We will also still have recreation and sports. But young people have got to get an education and they need to have some sort of cultural experience."