COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL | WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2019 | 9A
JUST
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Each office is individually owned and operated.
Mural
from A1
new home, the mural rep-
resents a tide change for
the school as programs,
staff and students are so-
lidifying their roles.
“I feel like our family is
whole again,” said Scrima.
Some teachers like Bran-
di Baker-Rudicel who pre-
viously worked part-time
have also transitioned to
full-time positions, offer-
ing more consistency for
the students and adding
to the school’s overall en-
hancement of curricula.
“There are things that
have been greatly improved
since moving out here,”
Baker-Rudicel said, citing
the larger space available as
allowing breathing room
for new programs and
teaching opportunities.
As such, the mural isn’t
the only thing new under
the Delight Valley sun.
AKHS plans to broaden the
scope of its work programs
this year, for instance, will
allow more career options
for students in the future.
“We’re trying to capital-
ize on our sustainability
concepts and the work and
job opportunities that we
have here and extend those
opportunities to other stu-
dents,” Scrima said.
Part of this will include
certifying teachers like
Baker-Rudicel as Career
and Technical Education
(CTE) instructors in order
to add two CTE programs
to the school’s menu of
classes. Hopes are to coor-
dinate with Cottage Grove
High School’s dozen or so
CTE programs already in
play.
On
the
alternative
school’s end, the CTE pro-
gram will involve the stu-
dents creating a business
plan for the school that will
market its gardening prod-
ucts.
“We’re not sure what
that’s going to look like,
but it’s going to come from
students in order to be suc-
cessful here,” said Scrima.
“That’s kind of the Kenne-
dy way.”
The school has also be-
gun a social/emotional
responsibility curriculum
and an advisory program
which addresses job skills
and prepares students for
real-world
experiences,
raising their chances of job
retention.
“That’s the primary goal,
teach those job skills, what
it’s like to be in a competi-
tive job market and be suc-
cessful in it,” said Scrima.
The new mural itself is
part of a leadership proj-
ect through the federal
Workforce
Innovations
Opportunity Act program
(WIOA), a service which
provides access to train-
ing and employment for a
range of career types.
Samantha Kelsey, a
20-year-old AKHS gradu-
ate, designed the mural as
part of the WIOA program
and was aided in painting
it by the school’s WIOA
Transition
Specialist
Heather Lawson. The duo
spent more than 30 hours
painting it.
“One of the reasons I
wanted to work on this
project is because Kennedy
has been a really valuable
part of our community
for a long time,” Lawson
said. “I really wanted to
do something that gave
more pride on the campus
and give back to a school
that gives so much to kids
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that just need one more
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Now living in Philadel-
phia, Kelsey’s return to
Cottage Grove for the sum-
mer runs in congruence
with one of the school’s
values. Kelsey could not be
reached for comment by
press time.
“One of the big deals
around here is the notion
of giving back,” said Scri-
ma. “We try to teach kids
here that giving back to the
community is really im-
portant.”
With these programs
and values in mind, a pri-
mary goal of the school
this year is to improve at-
tendance.
“We just want this to be
a great place to be where
folks feel at home and feel
comfortable and want to
give back,” said Scrima.
“We’re hoping our social/
emotional learning pieces,
increased family activities,
experiential learning trips
and those kinds of things
will bring kids in and help
them feel comfortable and
want to be here more.”
This year, AKHS is look-
ing forward to building a
new greenhouse and cre-
ating a makerspace studio,
which will include a 3D
printer, laser cutter and
other building tools. It’s
hoped that such additions
will enhance students’
sense of purpose and com-
munity at the institution
through meaningful proj-
ects and skill development.
“We’re trying to make
sure that we’re focusing on
improving morale and the
culture of the school to get
students here,” said Scrima.
With the new symbolic
decoration on the front of
the school, Baker-Rudicel
expressed optimism about
the atmosphere of the up-
coming year.
“We always had murals
up at the old school and we
noticed that, moving here,
that it wasn’t ours yet,” she
said. “And this was one of
the big steps to making it
ours, is having students put
their mark on the building
for future generations to
see.”
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