Not all parents take the bull by the horns to quite this extent.
Tyler Miller, 12, wasn’t motivated to do his schoolwork. He seemed to need more structure in his life.
Did he ever find structure at Howe Military School in Indiana.
Can we say “cadence?”
His mother, Kristi Miller of Mukilteo, a single parent, of course wanted the best for her only child. She researched private and military schools to find one that would suit her son.
Tyler went to the Howe summer camp for six weeks and liked the environment, he said. It was his decision to leave Harbour Pointe Middle School and join the seventh-grade class in Michigan.
The young man had to go through an application process and be accepted before he could attend either the camp or the school. This included sending letters of recommendation from at least two teachers and his principal, as well as writing an essay about why he wanted to attend.
In his essay, Tyler said he would like the sports at Howe and meet kids from around the country.
“I would do as I’m told when I’m told, and do it correctly in a timely manner because I don’t want any punishments,” he wrote. “I think I would learn more than I do in middle school. Some people think I’m just insane to want to do this and I think that they’re just insane because they don’t want to go.”
Kristi Miller said she was pleased with his application.
“I was really impressed,” Miller said. “Of course, what mother wouldn’t be?”
Each class at Howe only has three or four students.
On a typical day, Tyler dresses in his uniform, heads to mess hall for a buffet breakfast where he sits in an assigned seat but can chat, goes to classes, has lunch, goes to more classes and finishes with swim team practice after school lets out at 3:30 p.m.
Dinner is back in the mess hall, after which he does his homework in study hall, then gets to hang out and share a television set and video games.
He adjourns to his sparse private room for lights out, and piped in “Taps” at 9:30 p.m.
Mother and son try to see one another once a month. She flies there or he comes home, alone, on an airplane.
Jessica Montgomery, lower school principal at Howe, said Tyler is on the honors list.
“He ran cross country in the fall and plans to play golf in the spring,” Montgomery said. “Tyler came to Howe Military School as a student who had a tendency not to turn in homework. He has shown improvement in that area as he is learning that homework completion is strictly enforced.”
She said life at the academy is difficult for a cadet who is far away from home.
“But he has adjusted quite well,” the principal said. “He has a strong support system from faculty and staff and from his family.”
When Kristi Miller, who co-owns Harbour Pointe Mortgage, told family and friends about the military school, she said she got sideways looks.
“I explained it’s not a punishment,” she said. “The initial reaction of some was to question the military aspect.”
At the military school, an outing included seeing an NFL game. And there are girls at co-ed Howe, who live in their own barracks.
On the downside, the whole company can get confined to quarters.
“His grades have greatly improved and he is learning his strengths and weaknesses when it comes to his study habits,” Kristi Miller said.
“(Tyler) has also grown much more independent in the time that he’s been away from home. I really look forward to seeing the changes in him as the year progresses.”
Columnist Kristi O’Harran: 425-339-3451 or oharran@heraldnet.com.
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