by Mary Abreu

Education is always in the news, especially here in Georgia. Standardized test scores, dropout rates and student achievement are concerns not only to parents and school administrators, but to the community at large, which needs educated and able citizens to contribute to society.

Consider this: Georgia high school students continue to perform below the national average on both the ACT and SAT. Fourth- and eighth-grade achievement scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress show Georgia students are less proficient than the average U.S. students in those grades. About 5 percent of Georgia high school students drop out, and the high school graduation rate is about 70 percent. Administrators and teachers are doing their part to keep Georgia children in school and learning, but they can’t do it without the support of parents and others with a vested interest in education.

Here are three people who are doing something to affect positive change on Georgia’s education system. Ron Clark, Ann Cramer and Hinton Dillard are making a difference for students, whether in the classroom or in the community. While their stories and actions may differ, all three are committed to helping students be successful, in the classroom and beyond.

Ron Clark

Ron Clark has a vision. In his vision, teachers and students travel the world, collecting experiences and knowledge that create a lifelong passion for learning. Sounds idealistic, doesn’t it? Yet Clark is moving closer every day to seeing his vision come to life when the Ron Clark Academy opens this fall.

“I have always wanted to do a school since I started teaching in 1994,” says Clark. “There were programs that I wanted to implement, but it was difficult to do it as a public school teacher.”

Clark took a year off from teaching after he was named Disney’s American Teacher of the Year in 2000. As he traveled across the country as an “ambassador of education,” Clark formulated the plan for his school, which he pictured in New York City. In the interim, he moved to Atlanta – he’s a Southerner by birth – where he found college friends, a warm climate and a welcoming economic environment.

“I moved to Atlanta as a temporary thing and kind of fell in love with it,” he says.

It didn’t hurt that the runner-up to the Disney award, Kim Bearden, also lived in Atlanta and bought into Clark’s vision for an innovative educational environment.

And what an environment it will be. The Ron Clark Academy will teach kids in grades five through eight and students will have visited six of the world’s seven continents by the time they graduate. Clark describes his ideal student body as “kids who have untapped potential who aren’t doing as well as they could be doing.” He expects about 95 percent of students will receive scholarships to the $14,000-a-year school.

Clark’s philosophy will be at the core of the school’s day-to-day operations.

"We’re really trying to make a global change
in the way education happens and a global change in the way kids are taught."

– RON CLARK

“It’s basically about getting the kids engaged,” he says. “The main component is teaching kids that learning is relevant.”

In the past, Clark has accomplished this by incorporating upcoming trips into his daily lesson plans. A trip to the bowling alley would mean teaching area, perimeter, fractions and snack bar prices in math class for weeks before the trip.

“When we go bowling, they see math everywhere. It really connects everything,” he says. “Everything we teach, we make sure it’s integrated that way.”

Students won’t be the only ones learning at the Ron Clark Academy. Clark and his staff are scheduling visits and seminars for teachers and school administrators from around the world so they can return to their schools and implement the same classroom-in-the-real-world model. About 3,000 teachers have already expressed interest in coming to the school.

“It’s a school for teachers, as well,” he says. “We want to change the lives of kids and spread our method globally.”

Clark isn’t the kind of person to direct the action from afar. He’ll actually be a teacher at the Ron Clark Academy, working alongside a faculty chosen for their classroom innovations.

“Every teacher is going to think outside of the box,” he says. “They will be full of passion, full of innovation, bringing education to life.”

Students will leave the school after eighth grade, but they will always be connected to the Ron Clark Academy. Clark and his faculty will continue to mentor the students, tutoring them and helping them get into college – and then through post-secondary institutions.

“We mentor them after they leave the school to make sure they stay on the right track,” Clark says. His commitment to mentoring extends to the first class he taught, a group of fifth graders in North Carolina. He promised the students he would take them on a weeklong college trip during 11th grade if they promised to stay in school. Six years later, his phone started ringing. Clark now schedules three trips a year because he has so many former students preparing for the college experience.

“It’s powerful because none of these kids had family who had ever been to college,” he says. “They get caught up in the emotion and excitement and can see themselves there. It’s all about breaking the cycle, getting them in college.”

Ultimately, Clark hopes to inspire more than just his students, faculty and the community around the school. “We’re really trying to make a global change in the way education happens and a global change in the way kids are taught,” he says.

His students not only will have the book learning of their peers at other schools but a “global perspective and appreciation of other cultures and nations,” Clark says. He describes students from other countries who know as much about America as students educated here, while most American students know little about the home countries of those other students. This lack of understanding of other cultures puts Americans at a disadvantage in a growing global economy, a tide Clark hopes to turn.

“We have got to change the way we educate kids,” he says, “and we’re trying to be an example of how to do that.”

Ann Cramer

Ann Wilson Cramer found her dream job at IBM. As director for IBM Corporate Community Relations and Public Affairs in North America, Cramer focuses on improving conditions for families. It’s a role that allows her to make sure IBM’s employees have the time and opportunity to be involved with their children’s educations.

“I have a lifelong understanding of how important education is for all children. That’s where my commitment to education comes from,” Cramer says. She’s a proud product of public school education, as are her two children, Megan and Wil. Husband Jeff is a high school physics teacher with Atlanta City Schools. It’s through her experiences that Cramer found her calling.

“I could see where children sort of drop out, fall off, not make it. The expectations are not always the same for every child, and that was where I began to understand it’s more than just being a good parent and being involved in my children’s school.”

Cramer says she’s grateful to work for a company that understands the interdependence it has with the communities in which it operates. The depth of that understanding reaches into the education community, from early learning initiatives to higher education programs. IBM has made a commitment over the past 15 years to lead the education reform movement while simultaneously investing its corporate assets – people, equipment, technology – in “enhanced competitiveness and innovation” in schools.

"Everyone is not an IBM but every company is made up of people with the capacity to care."

– ANN CRAMER

One of the company’s newest programs, Transition to Teaching, is boosting science and math education in public school classrooms across the country. Launched in 2005, the program aims to help retired IBM employees get their teaching certifications so they can teach math and science in schools. Cramer says about 82 people – 10 in Georgia – have signed up for the program in its first year.

“We’re finding it really does hit the positive heart of IBMers,” she says.

In addition to her work with IBM, Cramer’s personal commitment to make sure all children receive the best possible education has led her to work with the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education, the Georgia Chamber of Commerce Education Committee, Voices for Georgia’s Children and the WorldClass Schools Foundation, among other committees and organizations.

Perhaps her most enduring role has been with Communities in Schools, which was born in her home 30 years ago. Cramer and her husband were involved in an urban ministry as well as with Neal Shorthouse and Bill Milliken, founders of CIS. The Cramers’ work led to discussing ways to help disadvantaged kids find the way to a better life via an education – work Milliken had been doing since the 1960s. Since then, CIS has grown to become a national organization focused on keeping students in school by connecting schools with resources in the community, including services, parents and volunteers.

“It does pull together the value of that strong educational experience, but also our own personal responsibility and how the community can equally be involved so all get an education,” Cramer says.

Cramer challenges other businesses to get involved with schools, and she outlines that involvement in a simple, three-step formula:

• “One is to support their own employees to be able to exercise their role and responsibilities as effective parents and guardians of children,” she says. That means providing workers with the flexibility to attend parent-teacher conferences and the like so “they can be engaged and effective in their role as parents or guardians.”

• “Look around ... in your own community where your business is physically located ... and find a way to become engaged with the local school.” Cramer says this could be as simple as bringing coffee to the school in the morning for teachers. She recommends finding a local partners-in-education organization or chamber of commerce, both of which may be familiar with the needs of specific schools.
• “Third is extending beyond the school to local districts and being a part of the leadership.” She encourages business owners and executives to “find your niche” and a way to use their assets to improve the education community. “One of the biggest issues in school districts is fleet management – buses. People who do fleet management can help run better bus fleets.”

Cramer takes her message across the country, speaking frequently to business executives and owners, as well as her peers in corporate-community relations, about accepting their role as community stewards for education. “Everyone is not an IBM, but every company is made up of people with the capacity to care,” she says. “It’s not just a do-good, it a do-right because it is so critical to the community.”

Hinton Dillard

Hinton Dillard describes the impetus behind Literate Atlanta as his first “a-ha!” moment. It occurred in September 2006 when he accompanied author/screenwriter Stephen J. Cannell to North Springs High School.

“Cannell really rocked the room,” Dillard says. “He told his story of overcoming severe dyslexia, which he still has, and becoming one of the most prolific screenwriters/authors today.”

Dillard saw the rapt attention of the audience, comprised of about 500 teens, and realized there was an opportunity to “create new heroes for kids, meeting people who are truly successful.” It was the ideal solution to a problem that had long perplexed Dillard, an entrepreneur and author.

“Sting comes into town and 80,000 people go to see him. A popular author comes to town and 20 people go to see him,” he says.

He’s spent a considerable amount of time in the past couple of years to promote author appearances and launch the Atlanta International Festival of Books, as well as work on his own writing. Since the seed for Literate Atlanta was planted, however, he has developed a program and executed it, with positive results.

Literate Atlanta starts with a school program that shows small groups of students the realities of their dream jobs – professional musician, athlete – compared with their expectations. Dillard asks the students what they think the average salary is of those professions, then shows them a PowerPoint slide with the actual figures: (Median Salary) Professional musician, $17,000; athlete, $34,500; runway model, $22,000; and actor/actress, $52,000.

“I would flip to that slide and just the sigh of depression hit the room, and I make them talk about it,” says Dillard. “Then I show them the real top 20 paying jobs.”

Following the presentation, Dillard returns to the school for an assembly. It opens with a review of the previous Literate Atlanta presentation, followed by a successful businessperson sharing his or her life story, then ending with an author presentation.

“Sting comes into town and 80,000 people go to see him. A popular author goes to town
and 20 people go to see him.”

– HINTON DILLARD

“You see these kids’ eyes when you give them a forceful presentation, and you just realize this is the mission, this is where it really happens,” Dillard says. “I have come to believe it’s all about their environment. They can’t identify with it until you bring it to them.”

So far, Dillard has brought authors Cannell, Nelson DeMille and Brad Meltzer, BellSouth Corp.’s Ron Frieson, and WXIA-TV anchor Ted Hall to three metro Atlanta high schools (North Springs, Carver and Westlake).

“Kids encounter a billion dollars of marketing energy every month. Teachers are heroes, but teachers have limited experience. They haven’t built companies ... they can’t say they’ve made half a million a year,” he says. “We can take people into schools now who have done all those things. You can’t fight Michael Vick or Ludacris with someone who doesn’t have the same kind of power in their words.”

When Dillard took Frieson to North Springs High School, the president of BellSouth’s Georgia operations “commanded their attention” with his opening remarks.

“He told them, ‘18,000 people and their families depend on me’,” says Dillard.

Now that Dillard has the model for Literate Atlanta’s programs, his next challenges are getting a staff for the organization, as well as funding. He hopes to bring the organizer of the LA Times Book Festival here in the spring to get the right personnel in place so his goals can be realized.

“I think that, over time, this can change the ways teens perceive education,” he says. “Instead of trying to push education, I hope to accomplish having them pulling it in. ... [They can] take control of their own intellectual development.”