The Medford School District in Oregon has the state's second-highest homeless student population. A teacher and film producer are joining forces to try and offer help and hope to this often-forgotten group of kids.

"Steve Pine, regional coordinator for career and technical education at the Southern Oregon Education Service District, and Sam Baldoni, owner of Inspired Films Inc., hope to launch the Oregon Youth Academy for grades nine through 12 by fall 2009."

The academy will be able to take in 200 to 400 students at a time and will teach video production along with more standard curriculum. The hope is that they can teach at-risk kids how to apply academics to something they find interesting.

Mount Bachelor Academy, a boarding school in Oregon, offers a college prep curriculum in addition to a therapeutic and emotional growth program. They are also the first boarding school in the country to offer an adoption-specific curriculum. Learn more at www.mtba.com.

Labels: homelessness, hope, teachers