By  Dianne Anderson

Like any good mother, Dr. Mildred Henry stands outside most every morning, watching the droves of her children and teens, about 500 in all, trek off the buses and into the Center, and not too much goes under her radar.

Not that the students aren’t trying to put something over, it’s just the nature of a teen.

Even on a frigid cold morning, recently one young lady tried to slip by in her little cute baby doll outfit that looked more like pajamas than school clothing. Dr. Henry promptly called her mother, told the student to turn back around, go home, and put something on a little more presentable.

“We do not tolerate that type of dress on our campus,” she said. “There is a limit. How can the little fellas concentrate with you sitting up there like this?”

Same goes for guys. Without reservation, she tells them to pull up their pants and tighten up their belts. One teen applied last week with his pants practically at his knees. The mother, who came in with him, apparently had allowed that kind of dress.

“I gave birth to five children and saw five behinds. I don’t want to see a big behind,” Dr. Henry said.

Sometimes, it is as hard working with the parents, who may not have a sense of what’s acceptable.

At the PAL Center, she tries to bring both to a place of common sense discipline, about things that should have been learned in the first few years of life. She tries to break the street mentality despite peer pressure. It’s no easy job.

Once in the program, she sees a shift in clothing and attitude.

“We ride the teachers, [telling them] don’t let them come in your classroom like that,” she said. “If they get this from all corners, they make the transition.”

Chartered through the San Bernardino City Unified School District, the PAL Center Academy in Muscoy works with students who are slipping behind in their academic credits toward graduation, and are at risk of not getting their high school diploma.

The program has fully credentialed teachers, offers individual education, career counseling and sends weekly progress reports. They take students on college field trips, participate with mentoring programs, and provide after-school tutoring. The program also walks the teens through options for college scholarships and financial aid.

“We deal with their minds and their bodies, we deal with academic and social standards,” Dr. Henry said. “We have to deal with the whole nine yards because many of them are not getting it at home.”

A big part of the problem is that so many teens have so few role models in life. They have not seen their siblings or parents graduate, or family members hold down a full time job.

“You have to keep plugging away, it’s discouraging at times, but you know you can’t stop because you have lives to change,” she said.

Last year, PAL graduated over 70 students in the high school diploma program that primarily targets students 17 years old and under.

For Nilah Thomas, 17, it was the most important step of her life. She will graduate in four months, and hopes to become a veterinarian.

“At first my grades were really bad, they started to work with me and everything has improved,” she said. “Something inside me told me I had to do better.”

She feels that she could not get the kind of help at a traditional school that she received from the PAL Center. The difference, she said, is that the counselors actually listen to the students and care about their problems. They work closely with them to make sure they succeed.

Thomas said that she was headed down the wrong path, hanging with the wrong people. Since getting into the program two years ago, she brought her grades up, and is now at a 3.0 grade point average.

“Really try and focus if you want to succeed; that’s what I did as hard as I could to get what I wanted,” she said.

For information on the PAL Center Academy, call 909.887.7002.