Forty-two teenage men and women, all wearing camouflage Army uniforms, standing in columns with their platoons, as the American flag is being raised. Many of their uniforms displayed medals for outstanding achievement. All of them proud of what they represented - the Alder Grove Academy.
They came from most of Placer County's high schools and junior high. Even though they each had their own story, they were either arrested and placed on probation and/or suspended or expelled and sent to the Academy as their last shot at turning their lives around. Most of these at-risk students hated school and their truancy had resulted in credit deficiences. Others had rebelled against authority figues at their school. Some had alcohol and drug use problems that furthered their downward spiral.
At the Alder Grove Academy they would come face to face with a retired police sergeant who prided himself as an "Old School" teacher. They would be entering a school that operated on order, structure and discipline." There were no victims in the Academy. For many, this would be the hardest academic and physical school they had ever attended. In partnership with the U.S. Army, they would slowly become a familiy, learning that their choices from here on out, depended on whether they had reached rock bottom and sincerely want to change.
They offer their stories in hopes of turning at least one at-risk student around like they did.
About the Author Dr. Gary Rose was a police sergeant with the Milpitas Police Department in California from 1973 to 1987. After retiring from an injury, and inspired by Jaime Escalante, Principal Joe Clark, Lou Anne Johnson and Erin Gruwell, he decided to explore a new career as a teacher; something he experienced as part of his duties while assigned to the Community Relations Division of the police department. After an interview with Joan Berry, Director of Alternative Education for the Placer County Office of Education, he was assigned to the Placer County Juvenile Detention Facility in Auburn, California. There he served as teacher in the A-Unit (toughest male offenders) for seven years. He called them “his A-Unit Animals” and had them adopt his classroom mantra of “stay focused, remain curious, truth and honor and whatever it takes.” In 2007, he was given an assignment to create a military style boot-camp school. His students would be those expelled from their traditional schools, alternative court and community schools, as well as a last chance for juvenile probation students. In partnership with the United States Army, he established Placer County’s first academy, the Alder Grove Academy – Home of the Spartans. Upon the closing of the academy, he taught at-risk students in one of the county’s court and community schools until retirement. After completing his doctorate in Social Psychology, he taught several years at the college/university level before returning to at-risk youth. He currently teaches GED preparation courses to incarcerated adults in Placer County.
