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Inside The Academy
March 7, 2007
By Vic Vela
Other news about Royal Gorge and Randall Hinton's arrest
A group of boy students sits on
chairs in a small room. Facing one another, they form a circle as
each one gets a few things off his chest. And then another. Through
the thin wall that separates their room and the larger, recreation
area next to them, the sounds of a familiar classic rock guitar riff
settles into the background of the boys’ group discussion. It’s Led
Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven,” being played by a student during
his leisure period on his strata guitar. In a room full of teenage
boys donned in mandatory dress shirts, ties and khaki pants, the
music’s presence seems odd.
Ignoring the sounds from the
neighboring room, the boys continue to discuss possible ways one of
their peers, 15-year-old Nick, can better assimilate into a
lifestyle he’s never been accustomed to. Although he’s young, Nick
has been moved around from different foster homes most of his life.
His current foster family sent Nick here, to the Royal Gorge
Academy, after he attempted to run away from home.
Nick only has been at the school
for a few weeks and is having a hard time fitting into the boarding
school’s regimented culture. Some students in the circle are voicing
their frustrations with his behavior, something that Nick is
beginning to resent.
“This place is making it look like
I have all of these problems,” he said.
The group continues, with boys
civilly airing grievances throughout the session. It’s called
Positive Peer Culture, and it’s at the heart of Royal Gorge
Academy’s belief that students are there to help each other, to
identify problems and find resolutions. For most of these students,
the problems they face are heavy. Some have been away from their
families for a long time. Some were on their way toward dropping out
of school. Some are dealing with drug and alcohol problems.
There is no discussion of Randall
Hinton, the school’s co-director who was recently arrested on
charges of false imprisonment, third-degree assault and reckless
endangerment. Hinton is accused of allegations that include forcing
a student to lay face down on the ground with her hands facing up
for several hours while not allowing her change her pants after
starting her period. Hinton has been placed on leave by the school.
While those inside the Academy are
not talking about Hinton, many outside school grounds are — the
Hinton case has received ample media attention. Questions regarding
Hinton beg questions of what the Academy is all about. For most
people in the community, the school is a mystery.
For the staff, the focus is on
helping kids become better kids. For most of the students, the focus
is on getting through another day on their own, away from home.
Software-based Curriculum
“I want to be interviewed!
Interview me.” These were the calls of a room full of girls sitting
at their computers during one of their class periods. The class
consisted of roughly 12 girls, full of energy and anxious to speak
with a reporter, a rare visitor.
The girls, as do the boys, sit in
classrooms with their backs toward the front of the desk where their
instructor sits. For every half hour class during the day — students
have ten classes daily — the students are not allowed to interact
with one another. They face their computer screens and communicate
only with the instructor who is available for questions, as well as
an additional staff worker, as needed.
The strict workings of the
classroom go hand in hand with other restrictions at this private
boarding school. There is no television. There is no Web-surfing. No
vending machines. And, there are no cell phones allowed. Students
wake up and shower at 7 a.m. and “shut down” at 9:30 p.m., when they
are all to be in their rooms, preparing for bed.
Each student is autonomous in the
way he or she works, meaning they can work on any subject whenever
he or she wants. The curriculum is software based and self-paced.
There are no lectures from the instructor and no blackboard. “It’s
weird not having teacher-taught classes,” said one of the girls.
The girls are more than willing to
talk about any subject, including how they got here.
“I was tricked here by my parents,”
said 15-year-old Cadey. “They told me it would be a ski or
snowboarding resort in Colorado.”
Cadey’s story is not unique. Many
students had no idea they were coming here until they actually got
here — one student claimed she thought she was being taken to a
mental institution. Some experienced what one would think would be
traumatic events in getting here, like Kori, who is 16.
Kori was “goober-napped” — a common
slang expression used when strangers hired by students’ parents take
the children to the school.
“These guys came to my school and
put me in handcuffs,” she said. “They took me outside to the car and
I could see all my friends with their faces against the window,
watching these guys take me away. I was crying, saying I was being
kidnapped. My mom said, ’No, it’s OK honey, it’s called
goober-napping.”
Everyone in the room laughs at
Kori’s story. Perhaps because they could all relate. Perhaps because
there was a bit of catharsis involved in laughing at each other’s
rather emotional stories.
But, not everyone is laughing this
day.
In another classroom, a quieter
room with older students, 15-year-old Erika quietly introduces
herself. When telling the story of how she came to the Academy, she
breaks down and cries. She’s only been at the school for a week.
“I miss home,” she said. “I want to
go home.”
Honors Society Students
The Academy has been open for just
more than a year. It houses 40 students, split evenly between boys
and girls. The students’ ages range from 13 to 17. An Academy
brochure states that a potential student fits a profile that may
include academic underachievement, lack of respect for rules and
social standards and unresolved grief reactions, such as parental
divorce.
Parents pay a monthly tuition of
$2,750 a month to send their children here. Often, the students come
from wealthy backgrounds whose parents hold lofty positions in
different parts of the country. This, school officials say, requires
special attention to preventing the identities of the students being
made public. This is why only first names are being used in this
report.
“There would be very serious
repercussions,” said Bob Martin, an academic administrator, “We
sometimes have very high profile students here. If someone, say, had
a vendetta against a student, we have to protect them.”
In fact, the first thing that is
noticed when entering the academic administration area of the school
are the photos of Academy honors society students. Their faces are
framed, but their first and last names are nowhere to be found.
This includes 17-year-old Ryan and
16-year-old Stephanie. They are two of the best students at the
school; in fact, Stephanie has received inquires from schools
including Duke, Southern California and Notre Dame.
But, success for these two was
difficult to achieve prior to coming to the Academy.
“My parents had no idea what I was
doing or thinking,” said Ryan. “I lied so much I didn’t even know
what the truth was.”
Stephanie says she has learned to
grow out of her teenage angst since coming to school here.
“The best part about being here is
growing up,” she said. “I’ve matured a lot and I respect people
more.”
Jeff Kwallek, a school supervisor,
attributes success stories like Ryan and Stephanie’s to the Positive
Peer Culture that the school emphasizes.
“They learn to help each other to
find solutions and learn to accept help,” he said.
Kwallek says school staff rarely
intervene in student problems.
“If a kid acts up in class, the
kids will stop and say, ‘We need to have a problem meeting right
away,’” Kwallek said. “Then, they talk about things and usually the
person who was causing a disturbance says, ‘I’m sorry I was messing
up,’ and then they move on.”
Brian Lemons, who opened the school
with Hinton, said events in his own childhood motivated him to get
involved with children.
“I knew what it was like not be
happy at that age,” he said. “Those are tough times for kids.”
Lemons said he was unable to talk
much about Hinton, because of legal concerns. But, he did offer his
initial reaction to the charges.
“I was surprised,” he said. “A lot
of students were surprised as well. Some of our parents wrote
letters of support.”
Lemons said staff hired goes
through a strict background check and that all teachers hired are
licensed in Colorado. While not specifically referring to Hinton,
all staff members say steps are taken to ensure the safety of the
children, including making sure a staff member is never alone with a
student — three people are required to be together at all times.
While Hinton faces charges, Lemons
wants to move forward.
“We’ll get through it and let due
process take its course,” he said.
Vic Vela can be reached at
vvela@ccdailyrecord.com.
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