Alternative Academy uses film to promote awareness

By: Kirk McCracken, news editor
kirkm@mannfordeagle.com

Published:

Monday, November 30, 2009 5:16 PM CST
 

Students in alternative school programs seem to always get a bad rap, but Mannford Alternative Academy teacher Lisa Shrader said the students are great kids that just need a second chance.

Shrader is among the most qualified teacher in the Mannford school system and gets the least amount of publicity. She had to be certified in all of the core subjects as well as a visual arts class that involves film making and editing.

She has 15 students in her classroom and she teaches every course, which keeps the students from attending numerous classes, giving them more one-on-one attention.

“These are great kids and some have dropped out a couple of times, but this (class) give us an opportunity to engage them through new technology. Some kids just don’t mesh with traditional school,” she said.

Each trimester the students work on a film that is a public service announcement. Each film addresses issues that students go through  like domestic violence, bullying, suicide, cyber bullying and controlling relationships.

“Last year we did a claymation film about domestic violence and were going to do a film about bullying and cyber bullying. We keep raising the bar every year,” Shrader said. “I have 15 kids and all 15 work on some aspect of the film. Whether it’s script writing, acting or editing, everyone is assigned to do something in the film.”

Last week, Mannford Police Sergeant Daniel Brashear spoke to the MAA about domestic violence.

“It was great to talk to (the MAA) about this. I would also like to talk to the whole school about it. Domestic Violence doesn’t just pertain to the alternative class. It can happen to the other kids in school too,” Brashear said.

After the films are complete, they are shown to the entire school on the Channel One news program that is fed into each classroom.

Most of Shrader’s projects are possible thanks to grants from the Oklahoma Arts Council. She spends a large part of her time writing grants for software and equipment. She recently received a $5,000 grant, which supplied her with a Mac Book and editing software for their films.

“It’s the same editing software that they used for the Lord of the Rings movies,” she said.

Shrader asked for and received almost $150,000 in grants and she has a $5,000 pending. The Mannford Police Department has also benefited from her generosity. Shrader received a large number of computers and has loaned four computers to the police department.

Shrader said that Mannford High School Principal Tim Wright has been a tremendous supporter and even steered her in the direction of the Department of Agriculture, where the school received computers with the computers for learning program.

“We brought 120 computers into the district and my students all got laptops,” she said.

Their next project will be about controlling relationships.

“We want to raise awareness. There are senior boys that date freshman girls and the girls think they are in love. The relationships can get controlling and they don’t even know it,” Shrader said.

Wright said the alternative academy has been very effective and the program is handling the students a bit different than other schools. Alternative education programs are often tucked away and treated like a school’s dirty little secret, but Mannford has embraced the students.

“A lot of other schools use the alternative program for discipline. We use it as a credit recovery program. We have a long waiting list, which is a testament to the program. When there is a spot open, we have a group that gets together and decides who might best benefit from the program,” Wright said.

The principal said MAA uses cutting edge programs and uses public service announcements to grab student’s attention.

“We’ve established one of the best alternative education programs around and we have one of the most qualified teachers to run it,” he said.