Jackson - Travis DeMars said he was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The 18-year-old student said that on a school night last winter, he was working on a snowmobile and slipped a pocketknife into the pocket of his coat. The next day he said he inadvertently wore the coat to school - and was expelled for 180 days for carrying a concealed weapon.

The school DeMars now attends focuses on more than just reading, writing and arithmetic. Since his March enrollment at Jackson's Pride and Respect Opportunity School, or PROpS, DeMars has learned life skills as well.

"I've changed my attitude as well as my behavior," he said. "When I came here last year, I was really obnoxious. Now I'm just laid back, calm."

As an alternative educational program for students who have been expelled from Jackson County's public schools, PROpS doesn't share many of the routines practiced in traditional schools. DeMars and his classmates at PROpS spend their days learning regular school subjects, but also participate in activities to help them work on anger management and communication issues.

Four times per week, the students execute projects called "experientials" aimed at building teamwork and negotiation. Last Thursday, the exercise consisted of constructing bridges out of newspapers and masking tape to hold up a heavy briefcase. After completing the task, the students returned to their desks to evaluate their performances.

Many of the students said the hands-on projects and intimate setting at PROpS has been beneficial to their learning.

"I have a more comfortable feeling here than I do at a regular school," said Christina Watkins, a 15-year-old PROpS student who was expelled for assaulting her principal. "They teach us real social skills."

PROpS was instituted in spring 2002 as an option to help educate and support the rising number of students expelled from the area's public schools. The program currently has 13 middle school and high school students. In the past it has reached capacity at more than 20 students.

The program is held during regular school hours, five days a week.

Many of the students in the program are serving a 180-day suspension or expulsion from a public school, often for reasons including anger-management, violent behavior or bringing a weapon to school.

John Graves, superintendent of the Jackson County Intermediate School District, said a similar program in Jackson failed because of a lack of funding about a year before PROpS was established. He said the program's failure did not discourage the community from trying again; rather, it motivated them to find an alternative that would work.

"There's a certain number of students who make some mistakes and end up being expelled," he said. "It's not in the community's interest to have those kids without any contact with educational services or any support.

"We came together and said, 'How can we make sure these kids have a place to go when this happens in Jackson?'"

The cost per student at PROpS is about $14,000, and the average cost per student in Jackson County schools is about $6,700. The funding comes from several sources, including grants, Jackson County and the 13 Jackson County school districts involved in the program.

According to the Michigan Department of Education, the number of students expelled from the state's public schools has tripled since the 1995 enactment of zero-tolerance laws. The laws mandate the permanent expulsion of any student who brings a weapon to school.

Christopher Dunbar Jr., an associate professor of educational administration, has spent time working at an alternative school in Los Angeles and has focused his research on expulsions. Dunbar said a large number of students have been expelled throughout the state because individual schools have their own interpretations of the legislation.

"The law was intended to address the more aggressive behavior or acts, but it seems to have evolved into something that's taken on its own life," he said. "Zero tolerance means zero tolerance."

Dunbar said some schools take the zero-tolerance policy too far, citing cases where students have been expelled for bringing knives to school to cut a pan of brownies or as part of traditional ethnic dress.

"It's pretty clear that a box cutter or a knife or any of those sort of things is against the rules," he said. "But sometimes kids do things and don't know or don't understand the real consequences."

Dunbar said unless a school district offers alternative programs, many expelled students are left with few options for furthering their education.

"In Michigan, there is no mandate that alternative schools be set up for these kids who are expelled," he said. "They generally end up out of school and have a greater tendency to get themselves into more and deeper trouble."

At PROpS, students are kept out of trouble by receiving plenty of one-on-one attention from the four teachers who oversee the program's daily operations. The teachers work with the students and their families to address problematic behavior and formulate personal goals.

"They usually come in with poor social skills, inappropriate displays of anger," said PROpS teacher and MSU alumnus Tanya Webb. "Our goal is to get them back to where they can function and deal with people in an appropriate way."

Webb, who played football for the Spartans in 1978, has a master's degree in special education. He said he decided to work at PROpS to help both the students and their families.

"We try to involve the parents as much as possible," he said. "Sometimes you have parents with limited parenting skills, so you say, 'Hey, we're willing to work with you, too.'

"We're tied into the community. If they need help with the entire package, then we'll help them."

PROpS aims to have all students eventually return to the public school system. Students continue their education and earn credits toward graduation through regular classes in language arts, math, social studies and physical education. Students also can earn credits by maintaining a part-time job.

But in addition to a core curriculum, PROpS also integrates classes in life skills as well as special activities aimed at promoting communication, understanding and teamwork among the students.

Watkins, who has been a PROpS student since February, said these classes and exercises have helped prepare her to return to public schools.

"I have a lot more patience. I can handle myself better. I have more respect for my authorities," she said. "Regular school is going to be different from here, but I feel pretty confident about going back."

Watkins had already spent a semester at PROpS before her return in February. She said her first installment of time wasn't long enough and that she hadn't been quite ready to return to public schools.

"The first time I was here I liked it because it was fun - but I didn't really pay attention," she said. "When I came back, I started paying attention. I thought maybe this stuff might really help me."

Out of the 66 students who have attended PROpS, 76 percent have successfully completed the program and enrolled in public schools. More than 80 percent of the PROpS students who returned to public schools were still enrolled after their first semester back.

Webb said it's rewarding to see students return to public schools, since so many of them are skeptical of the program when they begin at PROpS.

"They come in doing the stuff that they know, which is usually inappropriate behavior that they learn from the street. They usually resist at first because they're afraid of the unknown," he said. "But over time, you develop a relationship. You develop a sense of trust.

"We just keep plugging and plugging until we reach them."

Emily Bingham is The State News projects reporter. She can be reached at binghame@msu.edu