Principal’s Corner by Tonya Prouty

Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “The time is always right to do what is right.”

King was a warrior who spoke and fought passionately about civil rights. He displayed an attitude of resilience and a work ethic that never conceded. Are you thinking, “How does this connect to school?” I challenge you to think, “How does it not?”

At the Area Learning Center, we recognize that students enroll with special circumstances. Some of these reasons are self-inflicted while others are out of the student’s control. Many students are behind in earning credits for a variety of reasons; for example, a student who has moved and transferred schools multiple times, a student who has withdrawn and chose to return, a teen parent, a student who is battling chemical dependency or a student who speaks English as a second language and is new to the country. 

When a student is behind in credits for a self-inflicted reason, we work hard to help them understand that past choices do not define you currently or solidify who you will be in the future. Taking that first step in doing what is right is challenging. It takes a tremendous amount of courage by the student to step out of their comfort zone and challenge themselves to disprove who they were previously and break through the barriers that have stood in their way.  Just because students have made choices in their past does not mean that they are unable, or unwilling, to do what is right for their future. 

The Area Learning Center works tirelessly to help our students see that the time is always right to do what is right. We will help them earn their high school diploma in the face of every challenge and encourage resilience with each step.

Tonya Prouty is the principal of the Albert Lea Area Learning Center.