(Vol. 1, No. 1 - Winter 1996/1997)

Going to UPS

The day begins with a lot of hustle and bustle in the foyer of Williams Middle School, where three dozen eighth-graders (who call themselves "the Stray Cats)" prepare for their third trip to the UPS facility.

In an all-too-typical scenario, thirty minutes before the bus is scheduled to leave, teachers learn that three parents who agreed to serve as chaperones have cancelled. One student has been on the school phone, begging her mother to keep her promise, but mom refuses.

The Williams staff scrambles around and locates enough last-minute adult help to meet the state's minimum adult-child ratio for out-of-school trips.

"That's why a lot of these kids here are at risk," says Shawn Ackroyd, a former middle school teacher who directs the Future Connections program. "They have parents they can't depend on - parents who teach them you can't trust adults. So why are we surprised when they have behavior problems?"
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