After she is introduced to students and families in attendance at the Lighthouse School Spring Festival, Alane Jennings pumps her arms up and down in excitement. At the beginning of the school event, she was surprised with gifts prepared by the entire student body, parents and members of the Lighthouse School board of directors. The special recognition was planned to honor Jennings for her seven years of leadership and support of the arts-based charter elementary school, as she plans to resign at the end of the academic year. World photos by Lou Sennick

HAUSER - Like its owner, the red, coffee-stained binder has been through a lot in the past seven years. Tucked under the arm of Alane Jennings at every board meeting since day one at The Lighthouse School, the binder began to represent the structure and organization necessary to make the education center a reality.

While it still contains important documents now part of the school's history, the binder no longer serves its original purpose and soon, nor will Jennings, the school's first director.

“It's been around. It was with me through every initial (stage) ... and it still sits on my shelf,” said Jennings, who will be resigning from her position on June 22.

The school opened its doors to its first students in August 2002 after founders struggled for acceptance by the North Bend School District for about two years.

“I feel like it's time to pass off the baton to the next person, (someone) who is going to carry on with what we started,” Jennings said, nothing that she made the decision to resign this past winter when she realized she wants to spend more time with husband and their two sons.

Jennings will continue to work at the school part time, where she will serve as the coordinator of a dissemination grant program, and hopes to train the new director. The program, which is funded through a two-year, $90,000 grant from the federal government and administered by the Oregon Department of Education, is designed to help charter schools disseminate best practices to other charter and public schools.

“Charter schools are set up as small environments that are free to innovate and do something different,” Jennings said.

Looking back at seven years of obstacles and achievement, Jennings said she is pleased with the school's progress, but believes it needs a director with an education background to continue to lead it forward. Jennings has experience in employee assistance and counseling.

She said the idea for the school was born when six mothers, including herself, lamented how arts, language and music programs were being cut from public schools due to budget shortfalls. Soon, they decided the best solution was to start a school of their own.

“We really felt strongly about wanting to have a small school, with small classrooms, and an arts-integrated approach,” Jennings said, remembering how founders spent more than a month defining and refining the school's mission statement. “Even now, when I reread our mission statement, I get goose-bumps because I still feel just as passionate about what we want to achieve as I did those many years ago.”

At the school's Spring Festival on April 27, students, teachers and other staff members honored Jennings by presenting her with a Japanese maple tree strung with inscribed paper hands and a photo of the school's 150 students.

Vickie Gray, a parent who teared up when she gave Jennings the photo of the children, said she has known Jennings since before the school was founded. While she is sad to see the director leave her position, Gray said she is happy that Jennings will remain involved.

“It's OK. She never intended to be a full-time administrator anyway,” Gray said. “Her dream was to get the school up and running.”

Gray said Jennings has meant a great deal to the school, its staff and students.

“I just admire everything she's done for the school and the commitment she's put in and the compassion she has for the children,” Gray said.

Even families and students unfamiliar with the director have been touched by her vision for an alternative school. After her 6-year-old daughter, Miriam, played a lamb in one of the festival's performances, Heather Michel of North Bend said she enrolled her child in the school because she appreciated its artistic focus.

“I like it - she's had a lot of fun. It's very creative,” Michel said. “It was between this and home schooling and we decided to give this a try.”

Miriam, a kindergarten student, agreed the school is fun. “I like that you get to make crafts and draw pictures of the week,” she said.

Teacher Ashley Trainer said she has found Jennings to be an effective leader.

“I think she's been a strong leader and that her vision has helped her to power the school in a positive direction,” the second-grade teacher said, adding she has taught at many schools but has met few principals who care as much about the students as individuals as Jennings does. “She knows all their names and their families. She's as much a counselor as she is a principal to the students and they know that they can go to her with their problems.”

Jennings said she expects to be overwhelmed by her emotions on the last day of school and when she finally steps down as director, but she said it is time to move on. Reciting something she once read, she said:

“Common wisdom to me is that there are people who have the fire and passion to get things going and then that there are those who can come in and pick it up and carry it forth.”

Jennings explained that she is the former.

“I think it's a natural part of the life of an organization.”