Lauren Justice
Tzari Murphy, 18, gathers brush with an Operation Fresh Start conservation crew in 10-degree weather.
Charles Theus wasn’t cut out for the traditional school setting. Now, his classroom is out in the cold.
“School just didn’t interest me,” says the 19-year-old former Madison Memorial High School student as he hauls buckthorn and box elder tree branches onto a burn pile at the Schumacher Farm County Park in Waunakee. “I couldn’t focus on it the way I was supposed to.”
So, he started skipping class, and as his attendance fell, so did his grades. Eventually, he quit school. But that wasn’t the end of his education.
Before he left Memorial, a school counselor told him about Operation Fresh Start, a local nonprofit that provides construction training and employment opportunities for dropouts, ex-prisoners and other at-risk youth who want to earn a high school diploma.
In addition to the three days a week of construction work the participants put in, they also attend class at the Fresh Start headquarters on Winnebago Street on the east side.
Last May, Theus was accepted into Fresh Start’s Pathways conservation crew, which works year-round on projects at various county parks. He not only enjoys the work, he sees a future in it.
“We learn real good skills to have, if you want to go into landscaping,” he says, adding he hopes to find a related job when he graduates in a month. “The day moves by fast when you’re out here working.”
As the oldest of five, his mother demanded he graduate from high school — something she wasn’t able to do — to set an example. “I need to show my brothers and sisters they need to finish school, and that if I can, they can,” he says. “I’ve gotta be that role model.”
Celebrating its 45th year, Operation Fresh Start participants work year-round for a reason, says executive director Gregory Markle. “The youth we work with have faced many challenges and will face workplace challenges in their future,” he says. “Most jobs don’t close because of bad weather; neither does Operation Fresh Start. This is modeling the real workaday world.”
Working in 10 degree weather like last Tuesday at the farm teaches participants something about themselves. “[They learn] that they can succeed in the face of difficulties [and] that they have the inner strength to persevere,” Markle says. And through teamwork, they learn that others want to help them succeed no matter how difficult it is, he adds.
Funded primarily by the AmeriCorps national service program, Fresh Start participants put in 32 hours each week — about 70% is working in the field, 20% in class and 10% working on career development. They receive a $720 monthly stipend. Fresh Start also operates a construction program where participants build homes for low-income buyers.
In some cases, the Fresh Start alternative to traditional schooling is the only option left. “It gets them out of the classroom that wasn’t working for them,” says Markle.
Ethan Yang, an 18-year-old who often skipped at West High School, knows he needs a diploma if he’s to enter the auto industry.
“I’ve got to do what I’ve got to do to get an education, and this is it,” he says. He’s not crazy about working in freezing weather, though. “When you first get out here, it’s sooooo cold. But then, you get moving and get your blood pumping and get through what you’re here to do.”
Like in high school, he’s struggled with attendance issues while in Fresh Start. He’s even been kicked out of the program for missing work. Thankfully, he says, “they let me back in.”
His favorite part of the program is “being around positive people,” he says. “They teach you to be a better you.”
Program created: 1970
Participants who graduated since the program began: 8,000
Total OFS graduates in 2015: 280
Conservation crews: 3
Participants per crew: 10
