In 2007, a pastor with broad vision and indefatigable will named
Ruby Eldridge dreamed of a model school for the underprivileged
community near her small church in Prichard, the impoverished
(indeed, municipally bankrupt), nearly all-black city bordering
Mobile, Alabama.
“Miss Ruby” had a grandson who had graduated from UMS-Wright, an elite, largely white, private school in Mobile, with financial aid. So she approached businessman Sandy Stimpson, former board chairman of UMS-Wright. The pastor had a persuasive manner. “These children [in Prichard] are smart,” she told Stimpson. “They really are. I’m going to build a UMS out here in Prichard. All they need is a better chance.”
Stimpson helped find financial support, and eventually even the Mobile County public school superintendent gave encouragement and the city of Prichard helped them find a usable property. Prichard Preparatory School (pre-K through fifth grade) opened its doors in the fall of 2008.
At about the same, a first grader named Kyland Camp was having trouble at a nearby, well-regarded public school called Indian Springs. He had been expelled in pre-K for bad behavior, and suspended at least twice from kindergarten and first grade. Two years and yet another (intervening) school later, Kyland’s mother discovered that Prichard Prep had hired a number of staffers she liked from Indian Springs, and she begged them to give Kyland a chance in the new school’s different atmosphere.
Read more: http://spectator.org/archives/2012/06/28/in-midst-of-poverty-an-educati
“Miss Ruby” had a grandson who had graduated from UMS-Wright, an elite, largely white, private school in Mobile, with financial aid. So she approached businessman Sandy Stimpson, former board chairman of UMS-Wright. The pastor had a persuasive manner. “These children [in Prichard] are smart,” she told Stimpson. “They really are. I’m going to build a UMS out here in Prichard. All they need is a better chance.”
Stimpson helped find financial support, and eventually even the Mobile County public school superintendent gave encouragement and the city of Prichard helped them find a usable property. Prichard Preparatory School (pre-K through fifth grade) opened its doors in the fall of 2008.
At about the same, a first grader named Kyland Camp was having trouble at a nearby, well-regarded public school called Indian Springs. He had been expelled in pre-K for bad behavior, and suspended at least twice from kindergarten and first grade. Two years and yet another (intervening) school later, Kyland’s mother discovered that Prichard Prep had hired a number of staffers she liked from Indian Springs, and she begged them to give Kyland a chance in the new school’s different atmosphere.
Read more: http://spectator.org/archives/2012/06/28/in-midst-of-poverty-an-educati
No comments:
Post a Comment