School dedicated to officer offers learning alternative

Judy Odierna

Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2002 | 8:57 a.m.

Several Las Vegas officials and executives from international technology companies spent Monday morning going back to school.

The 2-year-old Peterson Center, an alternative high school in northwest Las Vegas, was dedicated to fallen Metro Police Officer Russell Peterson.

During the same program, a video conference featuring executives from Toshiba, Intel and other leading technology companies was held to discuss the results of a 10-week student project designed to help solve a community problem. The project encouraged students to find a community concern, such as homelessness, and propose a solution based on the use of technology.

The results of the study were shared with the seven other schools that are participants of the Model Secondary Schools Project, which was funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to help underserved and underachieving students approach education in a new learning environment.

"We just opened last year," said Dr. Steven Henick, director of alternative services for the Northwest Region of the Clark County School District. "The original intent was to be one of five Horizon High Schools for students who are credit deficient or don't want to go to school.

"We applied for a Gates grant and we were one of eight to receive it. The instructional approach has completely changed from what we originally had, and the kids have really gotten into it."

Following the video conference, the school officially dedicated the building to Peterson, a Metro Search and Rescue officer who was killed more than four years ago after thousands of pounds of ice fell on him during a training exercise at Mount Charleston.

Peterson had been on the force for eight years.

On hand to honor the officer were family members, as well as schools Superintendent Carlos Garcia and Sheriff Jerry Keller.

"This school is serving students Russ would have gravitated toward," Keller said. "He was committed to others."

Peterson's former partner, Officer Bill Cassell, thanked those in attendance on behalf of Peterson's family.

"We can think of no better way to shine heroism than to name a school after him," Cassell said.