Rio Grande Herald (Rio Grande City, Tex.), Vol. 21, No. 33, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 17, 1972 Page: 6 of 32
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School Is Happiness
At Freedom High
THE RIO GRANDE HERALD THURSDAY, AUGUST 17, 1972 PAGE C
The "turned off' generation
still is getting "turned on" at
Freedom High School in Albu-
querque. N M . which contin-
ues to provide answer- for
students questioning the value
of a formal education
Success of the unique
school, moving into it- third
year this fall, is indicated by
its rapid growth. It- facilities,
enrollment and statf have
doubled It averaged about 100
students during the 1971-72
school vear
The school's philosophy-
making education relevant —is
reflected in its name. The stu-
dents are "free" to pursue
their own educational inter-
ests in an almost unlimited
classroom —the city.
Freedom High School,
named by its first class, is
more than a school to most of
its students The facilities-
two rent-free abandoned
churches—provide a "home
away from home" for teenag-
ers who have been experienc-
ing family, social or emotional
problems
"A typical example of the
type of student at Freedom
High is a girl who had made
A's and B's up to the second
semester of her sophomore
year, then made a D and three
F's." said Dale Perini. who
heads the school's team of
teachers. "About 75 per cent
of our kids are involved in
some type of family, social or
emotional trauma which is
reflected in school grades."
Perini said the school en-
rolls students who are dissat-
isfied with the traditional
educational set-up. and there-
fore are not performing to
capacity.
"Most students who come to
Freedom High want to do
more with life," Perini said.
"They want to explore more;
they want less structure."
The school aims to revive
interest in education, and sta-
tistics show it's been meeting
that challenge
"One. girl who was at Free-
dom High last year enrolled
so she could continue her edu-
cation while working." Perini
said. "She landed a job w ith a
jewelry company, and her
boss reported she's the best
employee he's had in !■"> \ t ar-
She plan- to continue with
that corporation while attend-
ing merchandising college "
Another typical success -tn-
ry, Perini -aid. involved a
voung woman who had spent
five months in a detention
home ju-t prior to attending
Freedom High.
"She's done a complete
turn-about." Perini said. "She
became interested in the med-
ical profession' after doing
volunteer work in a hospital
as a nurse's aide, and she's
planning a career in medi-
cine"
"And one of our girls w ho
has been working at the tele-
phone company has prog-
ressed through several job
levels and expects to remain
there after graduation." Peri-
ni said.
Freedom High opened in
the fall of 1070 with three
teachers. .">( seniors from oth-
er Albuquerque high schools
and a $41,000 budget from the
New Mexico Department of
Education and APS. The lirst
graduating class included 17
students.
In 1071. with the help of a
$(>5,000 Federal Title 111
grant, the school expanded to
include six teachers. IIS stu-
dents (sophomores, juniors
and seniors), and a second
vacant church building serv-
ing as a "satellite" meeting
place. All 11 seniors graduat-
ed
In 1972 the school operated
on a $7.'!,(Hill federal grant.
The three-fold curriculum
includes required courses
taught by the school's certified
teachers; "enrichment" or el-
ective courses taught bv
community volunteers and
job-training.
Perini said about 80 per
cent of the students were
placed in jobs after the
school's second .vear of exist-
ence. "The other 20 per cent
did not want job training." he
added. "They were college ori-
ented."
Community volunteers,
some 100 of them, teach the
enrichment courses. Thev
Blind Photographer
Focuses with Feeling
TUCSON, Ariz.-A
photographer should be able
to picture with his eye what a
photograph would look like if
he shot it
Maurice Bowman is a pho-
tographer, but he can't see
what a photo will look like in
advance, because he's blind
Bowman, 18, is in his sec-
ond semester at the Universi-
ty of Arizona, and although is
almost totally blind, he does
everything a normal person
would do.
"I'm normal." he insists.
"My philosophy is to do every-
thing. and that includes pho-
tography. A handicapped per-
son shouldn't take the 'I'm
helpless' attitude. He should
be enthusiastic and do every-
thing he can to help himself
and other people."
Bow man is an Eagle Scout,
and perhaps he joined the Boy
Scouts just to be able to "do
everything "
To get his Eagle award, he
had to earn 21 merit badges,
which required proficiency in
nature, safety, first aid. public
speaking, woodworking, per-
sonal finance, music, sculp-
ture. citizenship in the com-
munity and photography.
Photography is his special-
ty, and he earned his Eagle
Scout distinction in it.
But how can a blind person
work a camera, develop film
and print quality pictures?
"I memorized the f-stops,
lense speeds and ASA ratings
(camera settings! for my cam-
era." Bowman explained.
"Then, to take a picture, I
pace the distance from the
object I want to shoot and
focus for the distance."
To print pictures in the
darkroom. Bowman measured
the intensity of the photo en-
larger's light by feeling its
warmth on his skin. He
doesn't do his own darkroom
work anymore, however, be-
cause he can't set up a dark-
room in his dormitory.
Bowman, from St. David.
Ariz . did much of the work on
his Eagle Scout award when
he was in high school at Ari-
zona School for the Deaf and
Blind here.
At the school. Bowman was
assistant scoutmaster for the
troop of 15 handicapped
scouts, and he was valedictori-
an of his class at graduation
in 1971.
teach everything from avia-
t ion to sew ing to fashion de-
sign to heavy equipment oper-
ation.
"< >ur main object iv e. rat her
than to develop a better way
to teach youngsters. is to de-
velop a more positive attitude
toward education in general."
Perini. a former junior high
mathematics teacher, said.
"We don't want to be a termi-
nal school, but a beginning to
a lil'et i ine of educat ion '
Perini attributes much ol
the school's success to it> low
pupil-teacher ratio Is to
one, w here teachers gel to
know each student a- an iiuli-
v iilual
Perini staunchly supports
the Freedom I ligli concept as
a necessary part ol modern
education.
H
"Just like there are many
different types of jobs and
many different ty pes of people
to lill them, we need many
different types of alternatives
in education." he said
"There are certain academic
-kill- everyone needs, and
these should be taught to eve-
ryone.
"But then students must be
given alternatives to pursue
I hei r ow n i uteres! - There
never should be a situation
created vv here a siudent can't
change Ins mind "
\
. — '
till
£
We want to be
the first to
welcome our
Teachers,
administrators
and students...back
to our schools!!
Let this be
a year of Progress
for all of us!
&tecta
Farms Inc.
RIO GRANDE CITY
1"
, tis to,create,, m tro cjnprjni,. *
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Trejo, Raul. Rio Grande Herald (Rio Grande City, Tex.), Vol. 21, No. 33, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 17, 1972, newspaper, August 17, 1972; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth194367/m1/6/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rio Grande City Public Library.