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June 7, 2007

Seven students struggling with addiction graduate Beverly's Recovery High

Martina Brendel

Seven months ago, Lois Tobin of Marblehead thought she would be burying her son, Zachary Ehlert. She had picked out the flower arrangements and even the songs.

Now she's planning his graduation party.

"He can do whatever he wants to do, and this school is responsible for that," said Tobin, who is battling breast cancer.

Ehlert was one of seven students who graduated yesterday from Northshore Recovery High School in Beverly, the first of three schools in New England for students overcoming drug addiction. Graduation marks a new chapter in the lives of every high school senior, but for these students, it also means a fresh start.

"This school is about what can be," said Bob Gass, executive director of the Northshore Education Consortium, which runs the school. "You hear that a lot at graduations, but there's not a group of students who exemplifies that more than these seven students."

Ehlert struggled with heroin addiction and had served time in a juvenile detention facility before arriving at Recovery High this winter. With help from the staff, he changed his outlook and is now on his way to becoming a professional welder.

"It isn't always easy to think of the glass as half-full, especially after all the things that have gone wrong for me in life," he said during his graduation speech yesterday, "but if I want to have a satisfying, productive life and not end up serving life behind bars, a positive attitude is a must."

The graduation was held in the cafeteria of the former Memorial Middle School on Cabot Street, which houses the program. Hand-painted signs bearing words like "Patience," "Optimist" and "Survival" decorated the windows, as did black-and-white portraits of the seven graduates.

The public school serves about 40 high school students from across the North Shore and beyond. The students' home school district pay their tuition to the school, which offers a full academic curriculum, as well as classes and meetings designed to help in their recovery.

Each graduate, with the exception of one who is in treatment, made a speech and read a poem. In addition to a certificate from Recovery High, they received a diploma from their sending high school and had the option to walk in their home school's graduation ceremony.

Keaton Heckman of Peabody admitted he wasn't enthusiastic about coming to Recovery High this winter, but after being kicked out of Peabody High School for drug possession, he had few other options. At his father's advice, he gave it a chance and is happy he did.

"This school has not only given me an education but a new way to live life and take advantage of all life has to offer," said Heckman, who will attend North Shore Community College in the fall.

SaBrinna Clark of Beverly, a recovering crystal meth addict, spoke of how she used to dread school, the repetition of learning her multiplication tables and square roots. At Recovery High, she was encouraged to pursue her own interests. She enrolled in an herbology course taught in Salem and now hopes to become a doctor of metaphysical science.

"When I walked in here for the first time, I asked (Principal) Michelle (Lipinksi) if this was going to be the best or worst year of my life," Clark said. "I want to thank her for making it the best."

During the ceremony, the staff fought back tears and passed around a box of tissues. With a student-to-teacher ratio of 3-1, the staff has come to know the students intimately and have seen them at their best and worst.

"It's so beautiful because we really have grown together," English teacher Michaela Gile said. "We have changed, not just them. My whole outlook on school, it's very parentifying."

Just as the ceremony itself was atypical, so was the graduation gift. Each student received an iPod, along with a latex glove and "pee cup" | a joke about the random drug screenings to which the students have submitted all year. It will now be up to them to continue their recovery.

"We bring them here and plant seeds, but they have a lot more to do," said Charlie Peabody, an adjustment counselor who is himself a recovered heroin addict. "I hope they can do so. It's not easy."



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