thedrifter
12-11-05, 06:41 AM
Three teens, three turnarounds
Road to diploma: Plainfield program was change of pace at the right time
By Catherine Ann Velasco
STAFF WRITER
PLAINFIELD — Matt Kramoski, Brianna Patterson and Steve Raineri have at least one thing in common: They were predicted not to graduate on time — if ever.
Now, Matt and Brianna are supervising staff, making a decent living and have a high school diploma to boot. Steve, who needed his diploma to join the military, is now in the U.S. Marines stationed in Hawaii.
But their prognosis didn't look good at one time because they were way behind in credits.
Matt and Brianna admit they would skip classes when they were bored. Steve never skipped a class, but didn't do his homework.
Pete Raineri, Steve's dad and a police officer, thought his son would end up in prison. Without a high school diploma, you can't join the military or get a good job, he said.
Their parents were frustrated and turned to Plainfield Academy, an alternative school started four years ago by the Plainfield School District to help students who are credit-deficient.
Dropping out
Michelle and John Kramoski moved their family to Plainfield schools from Aurora because their son, Matt, then in eighth grade, was hanging out with the wrong crowd. He attended the funeral of his friend, who was shot.
In his sophomore year, Matt wanted to quit school.
"I said, 'Go quit,'" John Kramoski recalled. "The next day, I woke him up at 5:30 a.m. to go to work, and he didn't like that a bit."
Matt returned to school his junior year, but continued to perform poorly. He started Plainfield Academy his senior year with about three credits under his belt — short 18 credits.
"The Academy helped me focus on the stuff I wasn't focusing on in high school," Matt said. "They made a curriculum that fit me. They said, 'You hate doing all this homework, so we will have you do all your work in school.' ... The homework thing wasn't for me," said Matt, who then would go to work at his dad's business after school where he works today.
"It was hard, but I got through it. I thank the academy every day. When someone asks me where I graduated, I never say Plainfield High School. I say Plainfield Academy."
His parents saw an immediate change.
"He was happy to go to school, which was a change," Michelle Kramoski said. "They were so good for him. They were one-on-one with him when he needed one-on-one. He actually looked forward to going to school in the morning."
Matt remembers when staff would sit down and talk about his positive qualities. His gift of gab — what once seemed to be a problem — became an asset, and his teachers thought he would be good in radio communications.
"It makes you feel like an individual. Wow, I guess I'm really like someone. I'm not just another brick on the path," he said.
Matt, 20, is currently a field supervisor with his own crew for Classic Cleaning Group Inc., his dad's company that does cleaning at residential and commercial sites post-construction.
"As far as I'm concerned, he is outstanding. He'll do whatever it takes to get the job done," John Kramoski said.
Preferred work
It wasn't unusual to find Brianna at work at NAPA Auto Parts when she should have been at Plainfield High School Central Campus — a couple of blocks away.
"I didn't want to be there," Brianna recalled. "I got sick of just sitting there and sitting there and feeling like I wasn't doing anything. I would go to classes and just get bored and leave."
During her junior year, a counselor told her she wouldn't graduate with her class — which got Brianna mad and motivated. She wanted to catch up by being home-schooled, but was advised that most students who choose that option in order to graduate on time — rarely do. So a counselor suggested Plainfield Academy, which really excited Brianna. She could complete three years in a 1½ years if she worked really hard.
"At Plainfield Academy, they told you: 'You are going to graduate. You'll graduate early.' It was motivational to be around a group of teachers who actually really cared and did everything they could to get you into gear to graduate," she said.
Once she got to the academy, she never ditched.
Pat Van Yperen said Plainfield Academy was a perfect fit for her daughter, Brianna.
"As they mature, they want to have control of what they are doing, and many times they feel helpless in a traditional classroom setting because you have to do what everyone else is doing. I don't think that learning is for everybody," she said. "A lot kids get bored, and they get bad grades, and they go nowhere, and it is an endless cycle."
Brianna ended up graduating a week before her class of 2004.
"I got to go to my graduation. I have the same high school diploma everyone else has," Brianna said. "I got to walk with the rest of my class."
Brianna, 20, is now assistant manager for NAPA Auto Parts in Glendale and will be manager of the store inside Universal Technical Institute within six months.
"There was no way I would be a loser in life," Brianna said. "All I wanted to do was get my high school diploma and get out of there."
Alternative school stigma
When Steve moved to his dad's home, the school district suggested that he go to Plainfield Academy, but Pete Raineri declined because of the stigma of alternative schools.
"I have a greater appreciation now of what alternative schools are there for. A lot of people think it's the last step before the kids go out the door. It's not," Pete Raineri said. "It's designed for the student who is not the traditional scholar."
Steve, now 19, didn't get interested in school until his junior year, when he decided he wanted to join the U.S. Marines. Without a high school diploma, he didn't have a chance. He and his dad sat down with Plainfield Academy staff, who said that if Steve worked hard, he could earn 16 credits in two years and graduate with his class.
"I wanted to be a Marine. It motivated me to get through high school as fast as possible," he said.
Steve is now a field radio operator stationed at Kaneohe Bay.
"Now, I plan on re-enlisting another four years. I'm going to start going to college to be a teacher and work at a school like I went to," Steve said. "Plainfield Academy got me going. I'm in the military in the Marines — without them, I wouldn't be where I am right now. I would probably be a high school dropout."
He hopes to go to Iraq this spring.
"I didn't join Marine Corps to sit around. I joined the Marine Corps to fight and defend my country and do my years honorably," he said.
Steve still keeps in contact with his old school, calling every two weeks to let them know how he is doing.
"They were a big influence in my life," Steve said. "The teachers there are so great. They helped me out a lot. I took it to heart."
12/11/05
Ellie
Road to diploma: Plainfield program was change of pace at the right time
By Catherine Ann Velasco
STAFF WRITER
PLAINFIELD — Matt Kramoski, Brianna Patterson and Steve Raineri have at least one thing in common: They were predicted not to graduate on time — if ever.
Now, Matt and Brianna are supervising staff, making a decent living and have a high school diploma to boot. Steve, who needed his diploma to join the military, is now in the U.S. Marines stationed in Hawaii.
But their prognosis didn't look good at one time because they were way behind in credits.
Matt and Brianna admit they would skip classes when they were bored. Steve never skipped a class, but didn't do his homework.
Pete Raineri, Steve's dad and a police officer, thought his son would end up in prison. Without a high school diploma, you can't join the military or get a good job, he said.
Their parents were frustrated and turned to Plainfield Academy, an alternative school started four years ago by the Plainfield School District to help students who are credit-deficient.
Dropping out
Michelle and John Kramoski moved their family to Plainfield schools from Aurora because their son, Matt, then in eighth grade, was hanging out with the wrong crowd. He attended the funeral of his friend, who was shot.
In his sophomore year, Matt wanted to quit school.
"I said, 'Go quit,'" John Kramoski recalled. "The next day, I woke him up at 5:30 a.m. to go to work, and he didn't like that a bit."
Matt returned to school his junior year, but continued to perform poorly. He started Plainfield Academy his senior year with about three credits under his belt — short 18 credits.
"The Academy helped me focus on the stuff I wasn't focusing on in high school," Matt said. "They made a curriculum that fit me. They said, 'You hate doing all this homework, so we will have you do all your work in school.' ... The homework thing wasn't for me," said Matt, who then would go to work at his dad's business after school where he works today.
"It was hard, but I got through it. I thank the academy every day. When someone asks me where I graduated, I never say Plainfield High School. I say Plainfield Academy."
His parents saw an immediate change.
"He was happy to go to school, which was a change," Michelle Kramoski said. "They were so good for him. They were one-on-one with him when he needed one-on-one. He actually looked forward to going to school in the morning."
Matt remembers when staff would sit down and talk about his positive qualities. His gift of gab — what once seemed to be a problem — became an asset, and his teachers thought he would be good in radio communications.
"It makes you feel like an individual. Wow, I guess I'm really like someone. I'm not just another brick on the path," he said.
Matt, 20, is currently a field supervisor with his own crew for Classic Cleaning Group Inc., his dad's company that does cleaning at residential and commercial sites post-construction.
"As far as I'm concerned, he is outstanding. He'll do whatever it takes to get the job done," John Kramoski said.
Preferred work
It wasn't unusual to find Brianna at work at NAPA Auto Parts when she should have been at Plainfield High School Central Campus — a couple of blocks away.
"I didn't want to be there," Brianna recalled. "I got sick of just sitting there and sitting there and feeling like I wasn't doing anything. I would go to classes and just get bored and leave."
During her junior year, a counselor told her she wouldn't graduate with her class — which got Brianna mad and motivated. She wanted to catch up by being home-schooled, but was advised that most students who choose that option in order to graduate on time — rarely do. So a counselor suggested Plainfield Academy, which really excited Brianna. She could complete three years in a 1½ years if she worked really hard.
"At Plainfield Academy, they told you: 'You are going to graduate. You'll graduate early.' It was motivational to be around a group of teachers who actually really cared and did everything they could to get you into gear to graduate," she said.
Once she got to the academy, she never ditched.
Pat Van Yperen said Plainfield Academy was a perfect fit for her daughter, Brianna.
"As they mature, they want to have control of what they are doing, and many times they feel helpless in a traditional classroom setting because you have to do what everyone else is doing. I don't think that learning is for everybody," she said. "A lot kids get bored, and they get bad grades, and they go nowhere, and it is an endless cycle."
Brianna ended up graduating a week before her class of 2004.
"I got to go to my graduation. I have the same high school diploma everyone else has," Brianna said. "I got to walk with the rest of my class."
Brianna, 20, is now assistant manager for NAPA Auto Parts in Glendale and will be manager of the store inside Universal Technical Institute within six months.
"There was no way I would be a loser in life," Brianna said. "All I wanted to do was get my high school diploma and get out of there."
Alternative school stigma
When Steve moved to his dad's home, the school district suggested that he go to Plainfield Academy, but Pete Raineri declined because of the stigma of alternative schools.
"I have a greater appreciation now of what alternative schools are there for. A lot of people think it's the last step before the kids go out the door. It's not," Pete Raineri said. "It's designed for the student who is not the traditional scholar."
Steve, now 19, didn't get interested in school until his junior year, when he decided he wanted to join the U.S. Marines. Without a high school diploma, he didn't have a chance. He and his dad sat down with Plainfield Academy staff, who said that if Steve worked hard, he could earn 16 credits in two years and graduate with his class.
"I wanted to be a Marine. It motivated me to get through high school as fast as possible," he said.
Steve is now a field radio operator stationed at Kaneohe Bay.
"Now, I plan on re-enlisting another four years. I'm going to start going to college to be a teacher and work at a school like I went to," Steve said. "Plainfield Academy got me going. I'm in the military in the Marines — without them, I wouldn't be where I am right now. I would probably be a high school dropout."
He hopes to go to Iraq this spring.
"I didn't join Marine Corps to sit around. I joined the Marine Corps to fight and defend my country and do my years honorably," he said.
Steve still keeps in contact with his old school, calling every two weeks to let them know how he is doing.
"They were a big influence in my life," Steve said. "The teachers there are so great. They helped me out a lot. I took it to heart."
12/11/05
Ellie