Story by Claire Smith, Contributing writer

Faculty members of Murray State’s education and human services department were selected to attend a training session at the Ron Clark Academy.

Jessica Branch, Melissa Chapman, Miguel Gomez and Kemaly Parr will be traveling to the academy in April. While there, they will attend a one-day training session; afterward they will participate in a summary workshop to discuss their experience.

The Ron Clark Academy is a non-profit school in Atlanta that teaches fifth grade through eighth grade and in the fall of 2019 it will be expanding to include the fourth grade. The Academy is a demonstrative school where teachers and administration can visit the school in order to observe and participate in hands-on activities.

The Academy was founded by Ron Clark, a mathematics teacher. He wrote the book The Essential 55 which is a guide to helping students succeed in school.

The faculty members were awarded a faculty incentive grant through the education and human services department that helped make this trip possible.

Melissa Chapman, a teacher leader, is one of the faculty members preparing to go on the trip.

“As applicants, we were asked to provide rationales for attending, expectations and outcomes from the experience, collaboration opportunities between faculty members, and how the experience could be shared with others within the college,” Chapman said.

Chapman said she has been reading and studying Ron Clark’s teachings for years.

“As a former elementary and middle school teacher, I utilized many of his different tactics, strategies, and ideas in my own classroom,” said Chapman.

The Ron Clark Academy focuses on creating global citizens through engagement and passion. Parents are also expected to be heavily involved in their children’s education.

“As someone teaching graduate-level teachers, I have the opportunity to demonstrate these techniques first hand and share how my students can be a part in transforming their own classrooms,” Chapman said.

Kemaly Parr, an assistant professor, heard Ron Clark speak a few years ago at Auburn University.

“Through this experience,  I hope to gain knowledge and skills that will not only make me a better educator, but I also hope to pass this experience on to my students,” Parr said.

Jessica Branch, an assistant professor, has followed Ron Clark in the media. During her undergraduate, she began researching the academy and watching videos about the classrooms.

“I know this experience is going to be inspiring,” Branch said. “I am looking forward to finding tangible ways to implement strategies with the college students in my courses,”  

Clark has been called “America’s Educator” and featured on “The Today Show,” “CNN,” and “Oprah.”