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By Betty Pearson
Contributing writer
 Rachel Bergh celebrates with the FOCUS program’s first graduate. |
Rachel Bergh carries a Wonder Woman lunchbox to school. “It’s a metaphor,” she said, “I don’t think I’m Wonder Woman, but most days I would like to be.”
Bergh is the sole teacher in a new collaborative program, the Dane County Focus program. Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD), St. Charles Youth and Family Services, and the Dane County Department of Human Services partner in the Focus program which began in February 2007.
Only 10 male students between the ages of 13 and 17 can participate in the classroom program at a time. The goal of Focus is to successfully transition these young men back to their communities and high schools before their court-ordered commitments end. For most of the young men, Focus is their last chance at turning their lives around and learning the skills it will take to stay out of penal institutions.
Each Focus student chose this program over living and attending school at the Ethan Allen School for Boys in Wales or similar institutions. Focus students are participants in a residential treatment program facilitated by St. Charles. They live in a small dormitory provided by Dane County. Each day, students are transported to and from a county-owned classroom on Madison’s northeast side. A St. Charles educational specialist aide does the transporting and remains with the students throughout the class day.
The curriculum, grounded in the Wisconsin’s State Standards, is designed by Bergh and her students.
“One of our philosophies is that everyone belongs and everyone contributes,” Bergh said. “Our assets-based program results in students recognizing and making educated choices that will have positive life-long consequences.”
Students understand and practice the three expectations of the program: Respect, Responsibility, and Effort.
Bergh mused, “Every day I ask myself, ‘Why do these students listen to me?’ ” The answer seems to lie in the visible respect she demonstrates for her students, the huge responsibility she undertakes each day in helping them find successful paths to the future, and the enormous energy and effort she puts into lessons. The students appear to sense her commitment to them, and perhaps that makes them labor a little harder in the classroom.
Bergh’s resume is jam-packed with creative achievements, awards and experiences. Her credentials include a K-12 DPI certification in special education; fluency in three languages, and three years of teaching in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. This past summer, Bergh enrolled in a hip-hop and spoken word curriculum class taught in Madison.
“I learned that in order to challenge my students, I need to keep up with their interests and make certain they can relate to each subject. ‘Keep it real’ is my mantra,” she said.
“One vehicle for achieving this is the genre of hip hop.” She references Flocabulary, a curriculum model that uses the educational power and social appeal of hip-hop music to foster literacy and promote academic success in the classroom and beyond.
In a recent Focus class, students were listening to “Lighters Up,” by Lil’ Kim. An open discussion was carefully being steered by Bergh. She stopped the music at various spots and asked for feedback. She got it. Students speculated about the song’s title: “It means stop smoking. No more crack or dope. It’s like freedom – like that statue” (a reference to the Statue of Liberty).
Discussion ensued regarding Ms. Liberty. One student remembered the statue came from France. The class then talked about when and why it came to New York. Noting the time, Bergh carefully ended the conversation and turned to an assignment they will be working on for the remainder of the week. There were four choices; each student selected one and began to work. Bergh visited each desk. She was encouraging, helpful, and clearly energized by their ideas.
Each day’s schedule is prominently written on the board at the front of the classroom.
“Students need predictability,“ Bergh said. “They want to know what they’ll be doing throughout the day and when they are going to do it.” Above the schedule is the quote for the day. “If you can’t count, they can cheat you. If you can’t read, they can beat you. – Toni Morrison.”
Other more permanent sentiments are scattered throughout the classroom like “Self control – knowing you can, but deciding you won’t.” “Great men cultivate love…only little men cherish a spirit of hatred,” a quote from Booker T. Washington, is poised among many Black History books in the room.
The school day ends at 2:00 p.m., and Bergh reviews tomorrow’s activities. This is her first and only break of the day. She decides to finally sit down while she plans. This lasts for two minutes, and she’s up rummaging through a large box of magazines she has collected. It’s all a part of keeping the curriculum current and real.
By 4:30 p.m., she has collected her two young children and is heading home to their evening routine. Once they are in bed, she re-reads tomorrow’s lesson plans and checks her date book. With a little luck, she will be able to practice moves for her Ultimate Frisbee game on Saturday, perhaps log some miles to train for a century bike ride, and harvest her garden, which she notes needs weeding.
She works on these plans as she packs her Wonder Woman lunchbox.
Posted October 3, 2007