SOAR KEEPS STUDENTS GROUNDED

BROOMFIELD -- Getting his daughter to quit using drugs and drinking was
hard enough. But keeping her clean and sober while at her old high school
would have been tougher, Fred Christmas said.

"The kids hanging there were using and putting a lot of pressure on her,"
Christmas said. "They'd be smoking weed in the parking lot and she was
afraid she'd be out there with them."

So his daughter decided to leave her Longmont high school and enroll in the
one school where she knew sobriety leads to a diploma. At SOAR High School,
her classmates took algebra, studied history, wrote essays and leaned on
each other to stay drug- and alcohol-free.

She got her diploma, hangs out with other sober SOAR graduates, and eyes a
future that's a lot brighter now thanks to the school's built-in support
system, Christmas said .

"She's happy," he said. "SOAR kept her interested and going to school."

SOAR - Sobriety Opportunity Academic Responsibility - started with six kids
in a parent's basement in the summer of 1999. Forty-five students from
Highlands Ranch to Ward are now enrolled in the school in a former
architect's office above a pizza parlor near U.S. 36 in Broomfield.

Another SOAR High School will open in March in Littleton to accommodate
eight to 10 students in the south metro area. They'll have to follow the
same strict criteria for admission, program director Conchetta Robinson said.

"You have to be sober to come here and stay here," said Robinson, a former
middle and high school teacher who grew frustrated when her own daughter
began using drugs in high school.

She and a handful of parents didn't want to send their kids back to their
old schools once they finished treatment.

"More than anything, it's your peer group that really is a big influence,"
Robinson said. "It's harder to go back to the same people and re-establish
yourself."

One of the parents offered a basement as a classroom while other parents
paid tuition to get the school started. Referrals from school counselors
and word-of-mouth helped the school's ranks to balloon and it expanded into
a three-room office in Broomfield in March 2000.

Another enrollment spike prompted a third move to the former architect's
office, which is large enough for a computer lab and more classrooms.

Through all the moves, the rules have remained the same: Enrollment is
limited to students in grades 9-12 who have completed 60 days of sobriety,
are committed to sobriety and are in an accredited recovery program.

Most students attend Alcohol Anonymous meetings twice a week, Robinson
said. The school also provides a class called "Communication and
Self-Awareness" that addresses some addiction issues.

But mostly, it's up to the kids to commit to sobriety, she said.

"It's not enough to just be sober to be here. They also have to embrace
changing the lifestyle."

Matt, 16, left a Denver-area high school because of drug problems but has
rebuilt his life because of the supportive atmosphere at SOAR. "No one here
says "Hey man, let's go smoke some pot,' " Matt said.

There is no doubt in 17-year-old Kait's mind where she'd be without SOAR.

"I would have dropped out by now," she said. "Here, I actually pay
attention in class."

The students' full names were not used because they are juveniles and at
the request of their parents.

There is no drug testing at SOAR and for the most part, it's not needed,
Robinson said. Nearly all the eight students who have relapsed have
confessed directly to her.

They are then sent home for 30 days to continue their schoolwork. But they
come in to SOAR once a week to keep their connection to the other students,
Robinson said.

Only one relapsed student never came back to SOAR. Two students were asked
to leave SOAR, even though they were sober. They didn't attend class
regularly and were a distraction when they did, she said.

In all, 14 have graduated from SOAR and are either in college, trade school
or working full time, she said.

SOAR's efforts have been recognized by the FBI, which recently honored the
school with a 2001 Youth Service Award.

The school's $1,200 per-quarter tuition helps support eight teachers and an
assistant director. Teachers at SOAR said many of their students take
classroom work more seriously because they have learned not to duck
responsibility in their personal lives.

"Most of them have had some sort of awakening, so there is more of an
acceptance of learning," said Aaron Leff, English teacher. "They are
accountable for everything they do. Even if they don't do an assignment,
they tell me about it."

SOAR students also seem more willing to help each other in the classroom
and beyond, said math teacher Steve Kremm.

"They are helping one another stay sober, but then that translates into the
classroom," he said.