`heaven And Earth' 
Is Vintage Stone

Above, Rick Derringer Heads Up A Multi-talented Roster Of Musical Guests 
Including, Right, Dead Letters.

Friday, January 07, 1994 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 





Tiny school in Oregon teaches king-size lessons &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The kids sleep in three singlewide trailers, the superintendent sometimes
drives the school bus, and from the playground to the desert horizon there's
not a Golden Arch in sightBut all America can learn from tiny Mitchell High
School in Mitchell, Ore., whose 29 students are showing the rest of us the
way. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Mitchell High was the subject of a fascinating story in Monday's Times
Leader. Perched atop a hillside in Oregon's high desert, the school has found
a novel and promising way to cope with the region's student-population
decline. It has become a public boarding school, "taking in students from afar
and giving them a taste of rural life, some old-fashioned discipline, and a
chance to stay out of trouble," as the AP reported. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 You know the rest of the story without even reading it. Troubled students
from Oregon's urban and suburban areas come to Mitchell High hoping to stop
their slide. Not all of them succeed; half of last year's dorm residents
didn't return this fall. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 But "those who stay seem to thrive.... Nearly all have improved their
grades, and most participate in school activities and sports." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 It seems the strict rules, stern codes and warm community fellowship of
Oregon's ranch country are just what these students need. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The point is not that a small, rural school can succeed where larger
schools have failed. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The point is that Mitchell's approach seems so right . If you could have
watched a few readers perusing Monday's story, you probably would have seen
them nodding their heads, regardless of their personal political backgrounds. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The back-to-basics approach at Mitchell High has an intuitive appeal. It's
the same one that makes people support "boot camps" for non-violent,
first-time offenders. If young people have grown up with little discipline --
well, why not teach them some discipline and hold them to a high standard to
help straighten them out? &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Truth be told, Mitchell's atmosphere looks mighty tempting even for parents
of kids who are not troubled. "If students say `shut up in Mr. Misener's
class, they'll be writing `shut up' 1,000 times," says the AP. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "If a boy and girl are caught kissing in the hall, they may have to stand
three feet apart for the rest of the day.... Dorm students must do 30 minutes
of homework each night before lights go out at 10:15 p.m. For every D, an
extra half-hour of homework is required; for every F, one hour." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Face it. Wouldn't you rather have your kids in school in that controlled
atmosphere than in the mild anarchy that prevails in so many schools today? &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Mitchell High School is not being heavy-handed. Its discipline is not
cruel. It is merely recreating the orderliness, and holding students to the
same standards, that marked almost every American school before the 1960s, and
that still prevails in places such as rural Oregon. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 It's an atmosphere rooted in the bedrock values of America's history and
countryside. It's the feeling that makes people yearn for the neighborhood
schools and small-town friendliness of their youth. It's what urban parents
who send their kids to private schools are searching for, too. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 In short, the recipe chosen by this little school in the foothills of the
Rocky Moutains is the American parent's secret dream. And it would be fitting
if this quintessentially American classroom taught the rest of us of a thing
or two.

Tiny School In Oregon 
Teaches King-size Lessons 
The Kids Sleep In Three Singlewide Trailers, The Superintendent Sometimes 
Drives The School Bus, And From The Playground To The Desert Horizon There's 
Not A Golden Arch In Sight.

Tiny School In Oregon Teaches King-size Lessons The Kids Sleep In Three Singlewide Trailers, The Superintendent Sometimes Drives The School Bus, And From The Playground To The Desert Horizon There's Not A Golden Arch In Sight.