Hemingway, SC- Public schools nationally are struggling to meet the needs of 21st century learners in their 20th century classrooms. And it should come as no surprise that boys are the ones suffering through this outdated educational system more than any other. They get expelled from preschools five times more than girls and are diagnosed with learning disorders four times as often. Nationally, 72 percent of female students graduated, compared with 65 percent of male students. Twice as many boys than girls receive special education services. And, research by psychology professor Judith Kleinfeld at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks states, "Here's a fascinating fact, there is no literacy gap in home-schooled boys and girls. Why? In school, teachers emphasize reading literature and talking about character and feelings," she said. "This way of teaching reading does not turn boys on. Boys prefer reading nonfiction, such as history and adventure books. When they are taught at home, parents are more likely to let them follow their interests."
While Arne Duncan, National Secretary for Education, praised schools and teachers for educational equity in parts of our country, parents like Tracey Bryant Stuckey, the mother of a kindergarten aged boy, wanted to know when that equity would arrive at her son’s prospective public school. But, like so many other parents, she couldn’t wait for him to become another part of the aforementioned statistics, so she set out to initiate 21st century educational change in her own way.
She knew from first-hand experience as a public school teacher for over fifteen years that teaching practices were “factory-like,”
As a national board certified teacher and mother of an overactive boy, Bryant Stuckey knew the potential for educational equity for her son’s special needs would simply not be met in such a rigid environment where children are rarely allowed the freedom to make choices and take control over their own learning. Where her five year old son, who is reading on a 3rd grade level but socially functioning like a four year old, would be academically challenged, yet loved and nurtured, while social skills were being taught. “I take my job as his first teacher seriously. His educational career started at birth when I began using the Play2Learn program. I want him to continue that same kind of exciting and challenging learning through his lifetime,” says Bryant Stuckey.
In April of 2009, Stuckey began to hear a buzz around the small town of Hemingway, South Carolina that others felt like she did too. Not surprisingly, all but one of those “like-minded”
Then only two months later, in June 2009, a grass roots effort by these eight “like-minded”
The school of ten boys and one girl engage in real-life learning projects and sensory based learning techniques that are attached to the very same standards used by the public schools. The flexible schedule and collaboration among students is turning the students’ weaknesses into strengths at lightning speed. You can feel the confidence when you walk into the building. Boys are allowed to be boys in this environment. Outside learning and physical activity are divided into three different times during the school day to offer them time to release energy and become reinvigorated for the next round of learning. Bryant Stuckey wants every parent to know that, “dreams for your child’s educational success can come true. It will take a revolution of parents to force change and change simply can’t wait. The lesson to be learned from our story is to use your voice to effect change and change will happen – start a revolution for your child today!”
