Paul Brown - Building Character for the Future

At the Paul Brown Alternative Learning Center, Wednesdays are devoted to character building through a program known as ARISE.

The ARISE curriculum addresses such important and diverse topics as conflict resolution, time management, and goal setting. Small groups of ten girls and boys are pulled out to work with teachers trained specifically in ARISE, while at the same time the Brown leadership works with the balance of the student body.

During a workshop held in February, the topic dealt with the need of students to work to rupture the often-times negative stereotypes which attach to today's teenagers. That discussion transitioned to another one of what it means for a person to be a contributing member of a community.

Bryan Cooper, Brown Assistant Principal, oversees the ARISE program and affirms the need for it.  "While we state that the Brown Center is for students who make an adult decision to take ownership of their educational future, many external stresses impede the opportunity for academic success for many Brown students," Cooper indicated.  "It is unfair to ask those same students to take on adult responsibility if we do not work to equip the students with the tools they need to do just that."