Phoenix II students talk about their unique school and what it is like at home, click here RELATED VIDEO CNN's Kathleen Koch reports on how one alternative school handles troubled teens Windows Media 28K 80K

April 29, 1999
Web posted at: 2:08 p.m. EDT (1808 GMT)

GAITHERSBURG, Maryland (CNN) -- Far from Columbine High School, where Colorado teens vented their anger with bombs and bullets, the troubled students at an alternative high school in Maryland are learning to overcome life's obstacles in a constructive way.

Phoenix II, located in the Washington suburb of Gaithersburg, is for students seen as "at risk."

Removed from high schools with large student bodies, they are placed in smaller surroundings where they can benefit from greater individual attention.

Even so, for young people struggling with drugs, alcohol abuse and violence, the toughest lessons may not be in math and history, but in honesty and self-control.

"The amount of rage that these young people are carrying around is increasing very greatly," says Sally Eller, who runs Phoenix II. "They don't feel that they need to control their emotions at all."

Take Nikki Scherr for example. The 16-year-old has been expelled from three schools. "I would always get mad for little stupid things," she told CNN. "I'd go crazy. I'd throw chairs. I'd throw things at teachers."

Click here to see peer counseling at Phoenix II in action

But for her, and most of her classmates, the school's tough, but supportive approach seems to work. The graduation rate is 95 percent.

And yet, in the aftermath of the Colorado massacre, educators at Phoenix II got a shocking reminder that they need to be even more in touch with their students. Of the school's 30 students, 28 revealed this week that they have access to a gun in their home.

Steve Hankins told CNN he "could find a way" to get at his father's gun, even though they are locked up.

Overall, though, the students of Phoenix II say the school has forced them to examine what they are doing with their lives.

It's an investment in young people that may defuse the type of rage that exploded so tragically at Columbine.

Reporter Kathleen Koch contributed to this report.

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