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WALKER — Dressed in a military-style uniform,
Cody Carter, 13, took his place among the graduates
— all 52 of them — and stood at attention as he
waited for the commencement ceremony to begin May 20
at Pine Ridge Alternative School in Walker.
For his mother, Michelle Carter, it was an
especially proud moment, and one she never expected
would make such a difference in her son’s life.
“We weren’t real happy about him coming here,”
Michelle admitted. “But it’s worked out well.”
“He’s learned discipline,” she added. “It’s made
a huge difference in his life.”
The graduation, which included students in grades
five through 12, meant more than just meeting the
academic requirements of their grade; it meant
learning how to be a better person and how to act as
a productive citizen.
“I have more confidence and I feel like I got
more accomplished,” Nicholas Newman said, as he
greeted his proud parents following the ceremony.
More importantly, Newman said, he learned how to
stay in school and out of trouble.
“I learned how much you can accomplish if you
continue to be good,” he said.
Headed by Principal Steve Long, the school,
nestled in the Walker woods, accepts students who
have been expelled from their district school for
drugs, weapons or other infractions, and focuses on
getting the students back on track.
The school follows a military-type regime using
physical exercise as a motivator.
Michelle Carter said it was the physical
exercise, she believes, that really helped her son,
who has attention deficit disorder, focus better on
his school work.
While the length of each student’s stay depends
on the charge, each — 250 attend the alternative
school — typically spends about 45 days at Pine
Ridge before returning to their school.
The program, Long said, seems to be working.
“The numbers were good,” he said. “Ninety-two
percent (of the students) from this year that have
gone to their home-based school have successfully
completed the semester,” Long said.
Of the 43 students in grades six through 10 who
took “high stakes” tests this year, 36, or 83.7
percent, passed, Long said.
As the parents took their seats outside May 20,
Livingston Parish School Superintendent Bill Spear
talked to the graduates, their parents and all of
the teachers who made that day possible.
“I believe in this Pine Ridge Alternative School
Program. I believe in this administration, these
drill sergeants, these teachers and this staff,” he
said.
“And now, for those of you completing this
program, I believe in you.”
“Not everyone completes this program,” Spear
said. “Students, you have successfully completed a
very rigorous, very strenuous and very focused
program. As you leave this program, you are a
success story. I expect and I challenge you to
continue your success.”
Following the ceremony, some graduates greeted
their families while others thanked Sgt. Steve
Richards for believing in them, and having the
patience and determination to see them through the
program.
“He has a sense of pride now and he no longer
sees himself as being stupid,” Nicholas’ aunt
Caroline Thomas said. “They have given him that
pride and self-esteem.”
Nicholas, and other May 20 graduates now plan to
take their successes back to their home-based
schools.
While Carter admitted she is a little worried
about the upcoming school year, she said she
believes that Pine Ridge has taught her son “so much
discipline that I think he’ll be OK when he goes
back to school.”
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