Stories from High School: The Components of an Alternative Education

Willard Alternative High School is the only one of its kind in the Missoula School District. Part of its uniqueness comes from the students and faculty, and the old building that encapsulated it all until 2018. This audio project looked to further explore the idea of alternative education at Missoula’s only alternative high school through the stories of the people that are a part of it. This project was a part of an advanced audio class’s effort to create a podcast. To do so, we brainstormed ideas together before going on to produce individual stories. Producing these pieces required conducting research and interviewing multiple students and faculty members, then putting together the information into complete stories. In my individual work, I examined how the teachers contributed to an alternative education setting. I also provided stories on the uniqueness of the building and heard from students about the stigmas of attending an alternative school. As a class, we worked to put together final episodes encapsulating all of our pieces. As a final product, this project provides a comprehensive view of alternative education that includes the students who choose to attend the school, the teachers who stray from conventional lesson plans, and the building that, until it was torn down, reflected its inhabitants with spray-painted walls, decorated doors, and student-made sculptures. It gives a better understanding of how young people learn and what education looks like beyond a traditional format