Schools point system
As I have been away from the school for a long time and there have been so many changes could somebody please explain this point system that they use? A freind of the family was just terminated from the school and I or her family understand why. Her Mother is very sick and her father is a dope feind so she is living with my sister and I just want to have a better understanding of what she is telling us. I would apreciate any help I could get.
thanx J. Carter
he was in trouble alot.
He hid his "bag" behind the posters.
So what was behind the posters?
And was he always getting busted or in trouble?
but what was hiding behind the posters.
This was very early 80's
He didn't get kicked out.
A kid got kicked out for having posters up?
What was the subject matter?
Was he always in trouble?
We had a kid named Randy Turner in Student Home Wieser.
He was always getting in trouble and making us lose our privileges.
So one evening we were all down in the wrestling room, and one of the guys started a fight with him, (Preplanned) and then he found himself being "Straightened Out" by 15 angry Home Boys, he barely escaped with his life and hid in the houseparent’s apartment.
When Mr. Cooper showed up, he called his mother and told her to get their as soon as possible to pick up her boy.
He went home that night; they shipped his personal belongings later.
Nothing was ever said to us about the incident; it was like Randy Turner never existed.
However, it was different then, we were all orphans, we were all males, it was a very tough, very male school, but they just didn’t kick us to the curb unless it was really a bad infraction.
Tom Diamond? He was in Shawnee. He would've been an 8th grader when us 88er's were 5th.
If the merit system was in place then do you think they only would've made him take down his posters permanetly w/ restrictions or sent him home?
Is the point system like the merit system?
I take it that corporal punishment is no longer the norm and that if the students apply “pressure" to get a trouble student in line, the students who applied the pressure would be the ones in trouble, not the one causing the problems.
Oh, one other thing, when a parent enrolls their child, do they sign over parental rights as they did when I was in the home?
I believe it all boils down to Accountability. I was extremely lucky that I had Mr. & Mrs. Mac for house parents at Willow Wood, they taught us to measure the penalty for our actions against our actions, and if we felt that the actions outweighed the consequence then go for it. 
There wasn’t a lot of whining when we were put on 30-30, , if we would have, we would have all probably lost our voices, .
There is one posting on here, “MILTON HERSHEY AINT THE SAME” Submitted by Dawn Kubiak on Thu, 06/11/2009 - 4:03am.
I really had to laugh when I read her posting, especially about her son being told to go get his laptop when he had a broken leg, awwwhhhhh, poor baby.
See I had broken my leg once playing maul ball, and I still went to barn for my full 6 weeks.
When I was at the home, even with a broken limb you wanted to “Prove” that you could still do it.
You didn’t allow anyone do your job, if you did you were considered a punk. (That's putting it in the PC.)
After all, if you can’t do your chores, how can you go to games or into town on Friday night?
Could you imagine these kids and their parents if the school brought back the barns and once a month visiting privileges?
I wonder how fast the parents would be protesting in front of Founders Hall…………..
And even more, how many would remove their delicate baby’s from the home, if the home went back to the old ways.
It seems like the school had a much better ranking and success rate back then.
I have to admit, in visiting the Home and seeing the conditions of the grounds, the tattered flags flying at Founders Hall, and students walking around in sweat shirts four sizes too small, I have to shake my head and wonder where it all went wrong.
And you know, with everything I had observed at the home when I was there a few months ago, I think a young lady wearing makeup tastefully would have been an improvement over things there now.
Richard "Duck" Myers
Milton Hershey School, Class of 1981.
First: I was class of 89 but left in the middle of my Junior year. I was having trouble accepting the fact that my housefather died and then got in trouble (14/14) for a fight I didn't start. I regret leaving but at the time it was the right thing for me to do. I went home to my mother and graduated and have been working since my senior year.
There is definitely some missing information. Both of my boys now go to the Milt. They are in two different student homes. Alex has been having trouble getting off of Novice since he has been there. As a matter of fact he made Brown right before the end of the year and I was shocked. I always get regular reports from the houseparents and even set it up where they can pass on info from the teachers via emails. Alex tried to run away once on his bike. I went over the health center and spoke with him. He had been in two fights that day with two different kids in his student home. Both of the kids hit him first. The first thing that the homelife official asked me was if getting out was an option. I told her absolutely not. This gives them a platform to start with on how to handle each situation. We sat down (houseparent, homelife and I) and spoke with him. I also told them that I talked to Alex often and on more than one occassion he told me kids had hit him. I actually called the student home one time because he had a bruise on his chin from a kid "playing" with him. I explained it wasn't playing because playing doesn't leave bruises like this and the kid was testing to see what he can get away with. The two kids that started with Alex were on detentions for months! They have a zero tolerance when it comes to hitting. Alex was handled on a by-attitude and merit basis and was off restrictions after about 4 weeks.
The teachers on the other hand are harder to get a hold of. Both of my boys received a couple of F's over the school year but none of the teachers ever contacted me. I don't see how you can give a kid an F and not have an explanation or a meeting with the sponsor/parent. They really need to work on that part of it.
Being a sponsor/parent doesn't stop when you drop the child off at school. I am a very hands on and in-the-know kind of person. (shut up Clint!) This holds true especially when it comes to my kids. I don't always take my child's side either. I make it a point to find out both sides before I speak my mind. That is the hardest part. The first thing I want to do is call up the houseparents and scream but I stop myself every time. I do the same when they call me about things. I choose to wait and speak to the boys and then speak to the houseparents instead. ie: Alex got in trouble for using straight bleach in a spray bottle to clean. It was industrial strength bleach and he didn't dilute it and it permiated the house. I told the houseparents that maybe he shouldn't have done it but they need to stop and think also. First, of all it wasn't malicious in anyway. Second, I have put bleach in a bottle and used it but he probably only saw that and didn't see that I also put water. Last, WHY IS THERE INDUSTRIAL STRENGTH BLEACH IN A HOUSE WITH CHILDREN ALL UNDER 15??????? They obviously changed their tune with a different point of view.
Sorry to be long winded but this is only a little of what I have been thru over the past year.
Everyone starts with a clean slate at the beginning of every new school year.
If you do something small it is a level one with NO points assigned, no detentions, just a verbal warning or a few extra chores. If you do something small over and over, it becomes a level two, with a certain amount of points assigned for every level two, and some detentions. If you do something more serious it is a level three with even more points assigned and more detentions...once the points for one kid adds up to a certain amount, they look into terminating them, however, I have seen MANY kids get to a high number and if they just act like they still want to be here and are sorry, the school is good about giving them more chances then they probably deserve. So I do think she is leaving out some serious details, and I am really unsure why her sponser hasn't gotten the whole story, they usually keep them very informed along the way.
Sorry it takes so long for me to reply I am on the road a lot without a laptop.
Yes as matter of fact she was expelled best as I can gather she acumulated so many points at school for wearing makeup and stupid stuff like this that is why I was asking about how this point system works.
As for me I got lucky and met up with another family of sorts and spent some years in the carnival buisness and kind of got a street education it was tough but I managed to survive. But it pales in comparison to the education that I gave up when I left MHS.
Ya know it's was the funniest thing at that time if you had a problem in home life in the intermediate division you had to go see Mr. Cooper who was real good friends with my houseparents so if I went to see him about anything it just went back to my houseparents and they would just get more pissed.When I got to senior division Ron Osterling was in his first year in charge of home life but as far as profesional counseling no I don't remember there being any.
Now my friend got tossed out because this point system at the school she was good at the homelife never had a problem but when she went to school she would get caught with makeup and that sort of thing but apparently she accumulated however many points it took. Now don't get me wrong there may be parts of this story she is not telling us but the school just doesn't seem to be very forthcoming either my sister is just getting power of attorney for this child because her mother is to sick to raise her and we can't find her father.
to what I went through. The HP thing and punishments handed out to me for every little infraction. I was thrown out of Arcadia in the summer of the beginning of my senior year. I chased my H father with a knife and destroyed his oil painting he painted. I was very fortunate to be transferred and not expelled. I went to Willow Wood and the Shaffers were like a breath of fresh air. They saved my life and treated me as a human and not a charge.
How did you make the decision to not go Back? We were all orphans when I went to MHS and most of us had no place to go. Why was your family friends child expelled?
Did they have counselling when you went to MHS?
You know there isn't a day that goes buy that I don't realize that I screwed up a good thing and the things a MHS education would have given me.
But anyway you asked about my story I had some anger issues by the time I got to senior division. While I was in intermediate I had Houseparents that were pretty stiff and I took some beatings and stored a way a lot of this anger and actually took it out on some people that where pretty damn good to me. In my freshman year I went through three student homes the first had a great set of houseparents the Brooks but I just didn't know how to react to love and kindness.
Than I got transfered to my old herdsmans unit and it got so bad he was walking around with a baseball bat for protection. I don't know why but when he was my herdsman we got a long great when he became my houseparent something changed I am sure mostly on my part. And than I got sent to woodside With the Whites great people I wasn't there long for fear of ruining another relationship I just up and left.
I still try to sell the school to anybody I meet that are qualified as I did with this girl and her sister and everytime I drive by the school I get that twinge of regret but like I said hindsight is always 20/20
J. Carter
an epidemic. I notice you didn't graduate either. Please enlighten us to the reasons why? We have been fighting the attrition rate and MHS seems to have no clue how to solve it. Too many needy children are being drummed out and we want to know why.
Please tell us your story and the story of your family friend? It actually may help in understanding where MHS has fallen. Tell others where improvement has to be made.
Now this is all dependent on if you were a problem child.
1st offence, swats and 30/30
2nd offence, swats 30/30 loss of next vacation
3rd offence, your gone.
But this all depends on your house parents and what your track record was.