Grants Pass Now

Jim Jorgensen, headmaster of the Alternative Learning Center

With ten successful years and many young lives changed, Jim Jorgensen, headmaster of the Alternative Learning Center, looks over the years with a smile. With twenty-five years in the United States Marine Corps, Jim Jorgensen has many fine leadership qualities as well as team-work skills to assist in the serious yet rewarding task of shaping young minds. After retiring from the service, in 1991 he stated his teaching career. In 1994 Jim Jorgensen moved to Josephine and was a substitute teacher for one year, followed by two years as a full-time teacher at North Middle School. When the Alternative Learning Center opened its doors in 1997, Mr. Jorgensen accepted the position as the first headmaster of the private school.

The Alternative Learning Center is located within the Boys and Girls Club of Grants Pass and operates on the same values instilled within the guidelines of Boys and Girls Clubs nation wide. The four key goals are to teach youth competence, usefulness, belonging and influence. The first Rogue Valley center was formed in 1970. Their mission statement, ‘The Boys & Girls Clubs of the Rogue Valley works to provide year-round positive, fun and safe places and program for all kids, helping them to build self-esteem and develop skills necessary to make right choices, becoming responsible and productive citizens,’ confirms the positive influence to the community and its residents. The Boys and Girls Clubs of the Rogue Valley include locations in Cave Junction, White City, Talent, Phoenix, and Grants Pass where the Alternative Learning Center is located.

Since the opening date of the school, the Alternative Learning Center has met the state required curriculum which includes language arts, science, social studies, math, computer use and knowledge, and physical education. To offer close contact and one-on-one instruction, there is one teacher and one aide for each class of about fifteen students. The sixth and seventh grade class is combined into one and the eighth grade class is in the next building. The school operates based on the traditional setting for public school and the main advantage is the general atmosphere. The students do not have to change classrooms and all assignments and belongings are kept in one place. This is a major advantage with a student with educational or social insecurities, and it is one of many benefit’s the Alternative Learning Center has to offer students and parents.

Thousands of adolescents across the United States are taught in an alternative fashion than the complexity of a traditional public school. Many youth can be intimidated and confused by the sudden change from the nurturing environment of elementary school to the fast-paced  setting of public middle school. Alternative schools allow a more gradual change in atmosphere for children who have specific educational or social needs that a decreased class size can accomplish. In Josephine County, at the Alternative Learning Center of the Grants Pass Boys and Girls Club of the Rogue Valley, you will find dedicated teachers and aides providing a secure atmosphere for middle school aged youth struggling in the traditional public school setting.

With the school’s stable structure, all that is needed is a guide to steer youth in the right direction. Jim Jorgensen is an amazing mentor to students and parents alike. With compassion, knowledge, and experience he has lead hundreds of students to achieve their own personal goals. Although all students having problems are welcome at the Alternative Learning Center, the ultimate purpose of the school is to ready students for a second chance in the public school setting.

In 2007, one of Jim Jorgensen’s main goals was to help as many children back into the traditional public schools as possible. Although some students spend their entire middle school careers at the Alternative Learning Center, most are able to excel in the carefully structured environment of the school and then can transition more easily into one of the four public middle schools associated with the program, which include Fleming Middle School, Lincoln Savage, North Middle School, and South Middle School.

With this year coming to a close, Jim Jorgensen has personally seen over fifty students, many of them already returned to public school. ‘That is what makes it worthwhile. When I get stopped in the street and thanked by a former student, I know I have helped at least one more child.’ Although this will be his last school year in Grants Pass, Jim Jorgensen knows the plans for the Alternative Learning Center. ‘Teaching children to live healthy and respectable lives, of course.’ He may substitute in Jacksonville, Oregon where he currently lives and will spend retirement.

A famous Chinese proverb says, ‘One generation plants the trees; another gets the shade.’ If you would like to ‘plant the tree’ for children all over Josephine County, please visit the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Rogue Valley at www.bgcrv.com or call 479-5258. To speak with members of the Alternative Learning Center located in the Boys and Girls Club in Grants Pass, please call 291-0416.