What a town will do for a school

What emerged was a "concept" school - one organized around a central theme and dedicated to offering students a more hands-on style of learning. It would also be more focused on using the resources of the community. In a gesture meant to be symbolic, the quasar - a cluster of stars - was picked as a mascot for the new school.

A roster of changes

When Southwest Star opened its doors as the reconceived high school in September 1997, classes were lengthened to 85-minute blocks to allow more project-oriented field work. Grade-level distinctions blurred and in most areas students were allowed to register for electives as college students might. The 18 faculty members were encouraged to dream up innovative course offerings and to require the students to work more independently and assume more responsibility for their own learning.

The result is that most students now participate in small multi-age classes, chosen from a menu that includes offerings like "The Persuasive Power of Speech" and "Twentieth-Century Music History."

In addition, Southwest Star focuses on getting kids outside the four walls of the school. A field-biology class is taught at a local creek. An applied-math class visits a local Toro factory and calculates the number of machines produced in an hour. A history class does research on an old covered bridge that once stood nearby.

Instructors today rarely find themselves in front of the room lecturing. "The kids teach themselves," explains Wayne Heisinger, a business teacher and coach who's been at the school for 30 years. "I've learned to facilitate."

The response of the students to the new teaching style was immediate.

"You can't depend on other people to do things for you," says Michelle Bartosh, a junior at the school. "And that makes you feel more confident about yourself."

The smaller size of the school is also great, says Stacy Oelke, a senior. "You're not just a number. You get more one-on-one help."

The response of area parents was immediate as well. The new school hoped to attract 35 out-of-district students. Instead, 79 enrolled that first year.

Young and old join in

In order to expand and modernize the school, the town passed a $3.9 million bond issue, with a surprising 69 percent approval from voters - even those without a direct stake in the school.

Pat Sontag and her husband, Warren, live in Heron Lake and have no children or grandchildren in town, but both voted yes on the bond issue and enthusiastically participated in school planning. "These young people are our future," Mrs. Sontag says.

Construction is expected to be completed by this spring. Test scores show that the school - always ahead of the state average on standardized tests - has maintained its edge. School officials say they hope to see scores climb even higher under the new system.

But the school's existence is still far from secure. "We are in a constant financial crunch all the time," says Mr. Schneider. The need to attract new students is a continual pressure. Schneider and other school officials are acutely conscious that enrollment at the elementary school dropped by 13 this year.

A Minnesota natural

On the plus side, the school has drawn statewide and even national attention. The changes in Okabena are part of a broader phenomenon, says Joe Nathan, director of the Center for School Change at the Humphrey Institute at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.

And in some ways, Minnesota is a natural setting for such innovation. "Don't forget this was the first state to have public school choice and public charter schools."

But the real lesson Dr. Nathan hopes other communities will learn from Okabena is "the value of hope, optimism, and persistence." This, Nathan says, "is the spirit of America."

* Send comments to coeymanm@csps.com

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