Most people in the community are familiar with the former L-C Middle School building – now named the Casco Career Academy – and probably the highly-successful Ahnapee Diesel Center program located within.

Another, lesser-known – but equally successful – program within the Casco Career Academy is the Lakeshore Educational Alternative Program, or L.E.A.P., which began with the 2020-21 school year. It is open to students in Grades 10-11-12, and provides a non-traditional and personalized learning approach, where students find their purpose and develop the knowledge, skills and habits to be successful.

The L.E.A.P. teaching approach focuses on building the teacher-student relationship, along with listening to students to hear their stories and learning about them as human beings. Students benefit from one consistent teacher who provides support and tutoring, but not direct instruction, along with a single set of rules and small-group dynamics within the classroom.

Entrance to L.E.A.P. is voluntary but requires the student and parent(s) to go through an application process.

Who is the average student in the L.E.A.P. program? According to L.E.A.P. instructor Ryan Deprey, there really isn’t an average student.

“Our students are of all different ages and circumstances,” says Deprey. “The common thread is that the normal brick-and-mortar high school just didn’t work for them.”

When students come into the L.E.A.P. program, the early focus isn’t on the academic piece as much as it is on the personal side of the student.

“Our goal initially is to give students a place that feels like home,” Deprey says. “We want them to know there are adults who care about them and will be advocates for them going forward.”

Students who don’t succeed in a traditional school environment often are able to thrive within the L.E.A.P. program because of the personal connection made with school staff.

“Students succeed here because of the relationship we cultivate with them. We get to know their strengths, their weaknesses, their hopes and desires for what comes after high school, their goals, and where they see themselves in a few years,” says Deprey, a 1998 Luxemburg-Casco graduate. “It’s a numbers game. In a traditional school, a teacher will have 100-120 students. I can invest more time with them. For some students, that is the missing piece.”

Alongside the academic side of the L.E.A.P. curriculum, de facto career counseling takes place. As students find success in outside work, their overall morale often improves.

“For our students, the world of work after high school is going to be their path,” Deprey says. “One of our primary responsibilities is figuring out what job they can be successful in. We try to line them up with paths that lead to being a productive member of society. We want to figure out what their skills and talents are. Our job is to determine what they’re good at – then find jobs that capitalize on their skills.

“Once they find their niche and experience success, their confidence grows. You really start to see them bloom and grow. As we figure out what they might be good at and convince them that they’re good at it, it builds their self-confidence. You reinforce an idea over and over, finding little pieces of evidence for them.”

At any given time in the school year, there are 10-15 students participating in the L.E.A.P. program. Overall, 25-30 students benefit from the curriculum over the course of a given academic year; students enter and exit the program as they complete their academic work and make up for credit deficiencies.

The neighboring Kewaunee School District purchases seats in the L.E.A.P. program to serve some of its alternative education students. Typically, there are around five Kewaunee students taking part.

The flexibility of the L.E.A.P. program is another component that leads to student success, according to Deprey.

“Our program has the luxury of being able to hit pause if something happens to a kid outside of school,” he says.

Life lessons are an equal part of what students learn in the L.E.A.P. program. While many Luxemburg-Casco students are taught these things in a well-functioning home, some students do not have that luxury.

“We try to teach our students how to function properly within society in general,” says Deprey, an alternative school teacher in Pulaski and at L-C for more than two decades. “What it means to pay bills. The importance of showing up on time. Things that maybe weren’t learned at home. Why it’s important to put insurance on a vehicle, things like that. We often don’t know where a student’s gaps are until we get to know them.

“Success for us and our students is pretty dang simple – a happy, well-adjusted adult who is ready to contribute positively

to society. Just getting the diploma is a very small part of what we do.”

The personal piece rises above academics in many regards, according to Deprey, who has been assisted by Debbie Liebeck the past four years.

“We try to show students that they can be good at something,” he says. “A huge part of this job is just building a little bit of confidence. Sometimes that’s pulling kids out of their shell who might have anxiety. Giving them confidence and direction and helping them to understand that they’re not stuck where they are.”

Deprey uses the illustration of a student who grew up on a farm and never has been successful in a traditional school. Their underlying skills are being a strong problem-solver and the ability to work independently. Those are marketable skills, he shares.

Success for Deprey lies beyond the academic piece. “I love to see students flourish as an adult,” he says. “Every now and then, I see former L.E.A.P. students out in the real world. I am filled with satisfaction when I see them just being a good person in our community.”

The Luxemburg-Casco community benefits when that happens.