Project Rise back at Walled Lake high schools

Tuesday, Sept. 6 will not only mark the beginning of a new school year in the Walled Lake Consolidated School District, it will also mark the beginning of a new alternative education program in all three of the Walled Lake high schools.

At the end of the 2009-10 school year, the district was forced to close the Community High School at the Community Education Center due to budget cuts. As all three high schools wanted to see some type of alternative education continue, Community Corners was moved to Walled Lake Northern for the 2010-11 school year.

However, the district has decided this year to replace the Community Corners program by reinstituting Project Rise at all three high schools — Walled Lake Central, Walled Lake Northern, and Walled Lake Western.

“Project Rise is an intensive one-on-one program designed specifically for at-risk high school students,” said district Director of Community Relations and Marketing Judy Evola.

According to Evola, since 1990, Project Rise has gathered and quantified data in four previous Board of Education reports documenting the success of the program — graduating and building relationships with at-risk high school students.

“The goal of Project Rise is that all students will ultimately achieve academic success,” Evola said. “We want to ensure academic success for all students. We want them to improve basic skills in reading, math, writing, and listening. We want all of the students — specifically the students in Project Rise — to develop the ability to learn, think creatively, make decisions, manage time and solve problems. We believe Project Rise is a program with a proven track record that will help students develop individual responsibility, self esteem, and self management.”

And by reinstituting the program at all three high schools, students won’t have to be transported to different schools.

“Students won’t have to leave their home school,” Evola said. “They can stay and receive the services that they may need right at their home school.”