Teachers are the adult in Fremont's Buckeye Community School's students’ corner
FREMONT ― The newest Buckeye Community School recently opened with a Chamber of Commerce ribbon-cutting in Fremont on Monday.
Chief Operating Officer Pete Bartkowiak spoke to a group of about 50, including members of the chamber and state Rep. Gary Click, R-Vickery, and Fremont Mayor Danny Sanchez.
“You can’t pound a square peg in a round hole,” Bartkowiak later said while describing Buckeye as a drop-out recovery school.
This is the fourth Buckeye school to open in four years, which now has a combined total of 1,700 students. The school system is a nonprofit charter school that is state and federally funded.
“Kids are most leery of school administrators and police,” said Chris Gasteier, community engagement coordinator. He said teachers try to be the adult in the student's corner, making extra effort to help the student succeed. It's standard policy to work around a student's work and employment needs, sometimes meeting at the local library in the evening just to make sure the student stays on schedule with their studies.
He said many students have some form of learning disability that ultimately led them to drop out. Others have endured difficult circumstances beyond their control.
The Buckeye system attempts to help the students by providing one-on-one learning and support in a flexible atmosphere.
On hand for the opening was May graduate Olivia Kennedy, who spoke at the graduation. She credits the Buckeye system for helping turn her life around.
“It really did help me to succeed, doing the program at my own rate,” Kennedy said. “I'm at Terra State Community College, majoring in accounting, with plans to finish my degree and then go into nursing. Right now, I'm a home health aide and would like to become a travel nurse.”
She briefly described the circumstances that led her to Buckeye.
“Technically, I was a 17-year-old high school dropout. My father was sick and my mother left the country. At 18, I enrolled myself in Buckeye Community School in Marion, Ohio, and graduated in May. I gave the commencement speech,” Kennedy said.
Sandusky County commissioners Charlie Schwochow and Scott Miller visited with the new school staff and looked over the facilities.
"I think it's a great addendum to our school systems. We always have a few kids that need help. I believe that this is going to be the place that can give them that help, so they don't slide between the cracks. We want everyone to be successful that goes into our school system," Schwochow said.
The new school is located at 401 S. Front St. Buckeye Community Schools also operate in London, Mansfield and Marion.
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This article originally appeared on Fremont News-Messenger: Newest Buckeye Community School opens in Fremont OH
