Physical Education

By Kim Plude

“Mr. Johnson!” Not one muscle in the two straight rows twitched as the voice boomed out from underneath the crisp army fatigues of the drill sergeant. Two boys in the back began to squirm in their uniform gray T-shirts and maroon track shorts. As the gruff bark continued, the rest of the corps stood solidly at attention. “Mr. Johnson, fall out to the middle and start doing push-ups.” One of the restless kids, a wiry boy about 12 years old with a sharp gleam of mischief in his eyes, darted out of the line. He never questioned the reason for his physical assignment, only hastily dropped to the floor to begin.

Courtesy of Kim Plude

MLTC teacher in fatigues works with students on a grammar lesson.

This scene is not atypical of the Milwaukee Leadership Training Center (MLTC), a charter school under the Milwaukee Public School system located on North 52nd Street on the ground floor of Steuben Middle School. As other middle school children across the state are building dioramas of the solar system and arguing over who is going to be kickball team captain at recess, the pre-teens at the Milwaukee Leadership Training Center are put to the test daily, mentally and physically, by a team of current and retired military personnel.

While the majority of high school students obsess about finding the perfect princess-like attire for the homecoming dance, students of the same age at MLTC are starting the day with a brisk run, sometimes jogging to Waukesha and back, which makes for a hearty eight-mile round trip. MLTC is different from the mainstream high school experience of Friday night football games, and the school is not necessarily the right option for everyone. By offering a highly structured alternative to the traditional public school system, 120 at-risk youth in grades five through 12 are given a chance to succeed.

MLTC is a tuition-free, non-profit charter school, meaning it is established under the Milwaukee Public School System but holds a certain degree of flexibility in teaching methods and more latitude to provide a distinct learning environment. MLTC combines a philosophy and practice of nonviolence with leadership training strategies drawn from the U.S. Military.

The most obvious indication of their distinct teaching style is found in the staff composition. In fall 2000, MLTC was born from the minds of Robert E. Schick, a retired lieutenant colonel from the U.S. Air Force; J.E. Smith, retired sergeant from the U.S. Marines; and Leslie Seib, a petite powerhouse of a woman with an intense drive to improve inner-city education. Schick applied his background of working at the Wisconsin Department of Juvenile Corrections with a desire to reach area youth before their attitudes and behaviors spin out of control.

MLTC is now in its third year and has developed into a solid educational program with a staff of 14. The teachers are licensed through the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction and teach in teams with military personnel from various branches of the U.S. Armed Forces. All are passionate about providing an environment more conducive to the learning strategies and abilities of troubled, inner-city students who are most often described as “at-risk.” This includes middle school and high school youth who are chronic truants, disrupters at school or at home and those not succeeding in traditional educational settings. Alternative learning strategies involve more hands-on, interactive projects, like a flight simulator where students can earn their pilot’s wings and rigid physical training every day of the week.

A teaching staff with such a strong military history translates into what Schick describes as an “in-your-face” atmosphere. “There is a fair amount of yelling that goes on here,” Schick says. “We’re not afraid to get their attention.” And getting their attention takes a creative form at times. “There is a boy that has a history of running off, so they took his shoes,” says Pat Caprez, MLTC business manager. “He probably won’t be going anywhere for a while.”

While in school, either with shoes on or off, the students are governed by the school’s core objectives. MLTC strives to provide unique opportunities and tools for academic success, to prevent their students from resorting to crime, and to develop leaders, community role models and healthy citizens. The overarching goal is to reform attitudes and behaviors enough to put the students back in a traditional learning environment. Schick believes the key to reaching this goal is creating a balanced environment for the students. With 85 percent of the students coming from single-parent families, Schick recognizes the imbalance between the presence of male and female role models at home and in school. He believes it is difficult for schools to provide the necessary balance between toughness and nurturing since females mainly dominate in this realm.

“Here, mainly males rule,” Schick says. “And they don’t take any baloney.”

Schick also emphasizes the critical importance of physical activity. “So many school systems are cutting their physical education programs, and it just doesn’t make sense,” Schick says. “When you exercise, more oxygen flows to your head and you think better. Why would you want to cut something that does that?”

Courtesy of Kim Plude

Students are disciplined and have to eat lunch standing up.

MLTC’s emphasis on physical activity is apparent in the halls. Around one corner, five students jog up and down a flight of stairs, huffing and puffing as a teacher sits, watches and counts the laps. Speaking out of turn or failing to respect other students or faculty earns students a couple hundred laps on the stairs.

Up these stairs and through the gymnasium doors await 20 students and two teachers. The children are lying flat on their backs, feet in the air as a military officer counts the number of sit-ups out loud. The stair climbers from before have relocated to the gym to run laps. In the corner, a boy lays limp, unable, or unwilling, to finish the assigned sit-ups. “What do you do when they refuse to do the work?” Caprez says. And as the teacher links his hands with the boy’s and begins to pull him up and down in the sit-up rhythm, the answer became clear: You help them out.

The teachers and drill sergeants provide invaluable help to the students although it is often a thankless job. The teachers receive no prep hour and no individual lunch break during the school week. The electric company has yet to hook up the washer and dryer even though the appliances have been ready for over a year. Until they are functional, one faculty member takes home all of the students’ uniforms and washes them on her own time.

Some of the students at MLTC know this may be their last chance to turn around before ending up in a juvenile correctional institution. Some appreciate the dedication of the staff and the quality learning experience the school is giving them. Paige Brown is a ninth grader in her second year at MLTC and is one of the most respected students in her platoon. She made the decision herself to transfer to MLTC after attending Edison Middle School and receiving detentions for fighting. She views the military atmosphere as a positive experience that teaches her the value of respect and taking responsibility for her actions.

“One day I’ll be able to tell people I graduated from this school and not one where they just give up on you and suspend you for fighting,” Brown says.

Brown’s goal is to be captain of her platoon. She already has the coveted black shirt, earned by successfully completing the “crucible,” a three-day testing process of extreme physical and mental exams. Those who pass the grueling tests, which include walking 17 miles with sandbags tied on, receive a black shirt signifying greater respect among the student ranks. After this year, Brown will attend Grandview, another military school through 11th grade. After that time she will earn her GED and eventually move on to the Marines.

Unfortunately, not all the students enrolled in MLTC can boast success stories like Brown’s. Executive Director Leslie Seib says that approximately 15 percent of enrolled students drop out of the school within the first three weeks. This is most likely attributed to the boot camp environment during this time period. There are no academics at first, only a rigid schedule of physical activity. Those who stick it out may still have a hard time adjusting to rules never enforced in their own school or home. But that does not mean the school gives up on a stubborn student and ships him or her off to a private military academy. If there is one thing the staff enjoys, it is a challenge.

Behind every student that talks back, or won’t talk at all, every stony glare aimed in the direction of authority and every uniform drenched with the sweat of hundreds of laps around the gym, is a staff member that is pulling for each student’s individual success. It will come at the expense of tough love and plenty of tears, but the MLTC staff is confident that it will come.

For more information about this article visit the following sites:

Milwaukee Leadership Training Center: Visit this site to learn more about MLTC and their programs.

United States Academy at West Point Library: Visit this site for infomation about the school and to search the library.

Teens in Crisis: Visit this site for further information on troubled teenagers including information on boarding schools and camps for teens.

To look at other Wisconsin schools innovative programs click here