Youth find a home at Home Port

By Sara Ballenger

Wearing a baseball cap, jeans and a green shirt, Nate Balcom,17, walks into his classroom. He takes a seat next to other students who look like any other student in Whatcom County. The role of student is something that Balcom and his classmates are getting used to.

The students at Home Port Learning Center, 707 Astor St., used to belong to the 55 percent of the county's youth that are not in school, according to a Whatcom County Juvenile Probation study.

Home Port came about as an avenue to address the lack of education, job skills, goal setting, and interpersonal skills of the youth in the Whatcom County Juvenile Court System.

"We needed some kind of service available for the students that were bouncing back into the system from the main-stream school system," said Steve Paus of Whatcom County Juvenile Probation Department.

In 1994, Paus' effort paid off with two grants totaling $5,000. One from former Gov. Mike Lowry's Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee, and the other from Puget Sound Water Quality Authority, both ending in July of 1995. With start-up costs in place, the program began.

According to Paus, main-stream schools and other institutions "systematically ignore" juvenile offenders.

"Methods of education tend to focus on teaching rather than learning," Paus said. "People develop differently in the areas of cognition, morality, and social interaction. When these differences are perceived as extremes of the norm, the individual is made to feel unwanted and then they disconnect."

"Kids lacking education or job skills, who are serious juvenile offenders, are otherwise prevented from successfully integrating into society," Paus said.

Paus, who was in charge of funding for special programs for Whatcom County Juvenile Services, looked for program ideas. Paus had a love for wooden boat. He followed the progress of different boat-building programs for at-risk-youth on the East Coast and thought Bellingham could use a similar program.

With only four students, the first boat-building project, a plywood fiberglass boat, was completed in 1994.

In the winter of 1995, students built a traditional Aleutian Umiak with boat-builder Corey Freedman of Anacortes. Freedman donated his time and the majority of the materials.

"Programs like this really do a service to the community. It is important to facilitate the different kinds of learning, so these kids have a chance," Freedman said.

In the fall of 1995, Home Port contracted with the county's seven school district's and Whatcom County Juvenile Probation Department.

"We are currently funded by the school district that the student came from 50 percent. We get a certain amount of money per day, per kid," said head boat-building instructor Chuck Graydon. The exact amount of money was not available.

"We get the other 50 percent out of funding from the special programs fund of Whatcom County Juvenile Services," Graydon said.

Funding is steady from both the county and the school districts, but because the school is non-profit, all funding needs must be approved by both.

"The center was established with a Maritime theme, originally for grant purposes. It was really open-ended. We started the program by building and repairing traditionally built wooden boats," Graydon said.

"Since we are a transitional program, we focus on teaching the skills to either get the student back into public school, getting their G.E.D., or getting a job," Graydon said.

In the 11 months Balcom has been with Home Port, he has gotten his G.E.D., has helped build skiffs, and a replica of Capt. Vancouver's longboat. Balcom has also become the coxswain for the longboat, "The Plume," which Home Port races across the state. In June, he will be leaving for Alaska for a job on a fishing boat.

"I love it here. This place has helped me a lot. It helped me get a job this summer. I feel like I can do whatever I want and be successful at it. My self-confidence is a lot better," Balcom said.

"I think the biggest success of Home Port is because of the student to teacher ratio. Five students per one teacher gives the kids the attention they need. They weren't getting that in public schools," said vocational instructor Ralph Smallwood.

Student Rose McKay,17, who has been at Home Port for three months, said that she has been able to progress and learn at her own pace.

"We haven't slipped through the cracks. We just need a different kind of learning," McKay said.

She hopes to return to public high school and graduate next year.

"The true measure of success are the kids. If we have helped just one kid from slipping through the cracks, that's a success," Smallwood said.

Out of about 80 students Home Port has had in the last four years, 70 percent have gone on to other successes, Smallwood said.

Home Port has been successful with its boat-building program, but wants to expand into other projects, particularly community service, Graydon said.

For example, the school would like to work on projects wit h the Parks Department and the city, Graydon said.

"We are in the process of hiring a new teacher who will have the responsibility of finding these projects and help to develop this part of our program," Graydon said.

"I think it is good to get these kids out in the community, where they can be seen by the public doing good things they can feel good about" Smallwood said.

"If I saw these kids walking on the street, the last thing I would think is that they are going to break into my house. They are good kids, they just need a different kind of attention," Graydon said.

Whatcom County Juvenile Probation Department and the county's seven school districts will review the community proposal. Once a draft is complete, the groups will decide whether to allocate additional funding, if any is needed, for the expansion of Home Port's community program, Graydon said.

"I think this part of the program needs to be successful for Home Port to be a success in the community, since we are truly community based," Graydon said. "We would like to expand our programs, so we can give back."