When Ruth White founded The Academy for Scholastic and Personal Success, she didn’t think it would see its 35th anniversary. This sentiment is not from lack of faith in her nonprofit organization, which helps African American students achieve academic success and connect with their cultural roots, but from the hope that one day its programs […]
When Ruth White founded The Academy for Scholastic and Personal Success, she didn’t think it would see its 35th anniversary.
This sentiment is not from lack of faith in her nonprofit organization, which helps African American students achieve academic success and connect with their cultural roots, but from the hope that one day its programs wouldn’t be necessary.
“I knew that the program was necessary from what I was doing at Washington [High School],” she said about the beginnings of The Academy in the late 1980s. “But I certainly didn’t think it was going to last this long, because I thought that society would pull itself together … Now I’m convinced that a program like this … needs to happen until it’s not needed anymore. I’ve come to terms with the fact that I’m not going to see the end of it.”
Ms. White, who holds a P.h.D. in American studies from the University of Iowa, was teaching English and literature at Washington High School when she founded The Academy. She was also serving as the Cedar Rapids Community School District’s (CRCSD) academic advisor to minority students, a new position at the time.
“It turned out to be extremely informative to me,” she said. “One of the things I learned was that our students of color, by and large, had no sense of their heritage history legacies.”
Ms. White noticed that many of these students would “fall into the abyss” after high school graduation, academically. She founded The Academy in hopes of cultivating community connection and inspiring pride in their heritage.
The Academy began with a summer program for high school-aged students, which continues to this day. This program, which partners with CRCSD and takes place at Mount Mercy University, offers African American students additional opportunities to learn more about unique and specific subjects such as Black history, gardening, nutrition, and yoga, as well as more traditional subjects like math, science and literature. The Academy has also helped students prepare for college with postsecondary seminars.
To Ms. White, it is important for The Academy’s students to be taught by teachers who look like them. She said representation makes a difference in the programs’, and students’, success.
“A student of color in [the Cedar Rapids School District] can go from kindergarten through high school and never see a teacher of color,” she said. “The fact of the matter is, kids do better when they can relate to the person that’s teaching them. Does that mean that everybody who teaches them should look like them? Absolutely not … But it does mean that there is an intangible advantage that a student benefits from if they have that opportunity.”
Students taking part in the high school summer program also have the opportunity to experience travel to culturally significant places. The Academy’s students have visited Atlanta, Chicago, Baltimore, Washington D.C., Memphis, New Orleans and more.
According to Ms. White, every aspect of these trips becomes an opportunity to learn about and connect with cultural heritage. Students have visited museums, seen plays, and gone on college visits. They often meet Black entrepreneurs and experience culturally-significant food at meal times.
“There’s nothing like actually seeing and experiencing something,” Ms. White said. “I want to take them to places where they can actually see African American culture in a positive reflection.”
The Academy has greatly expanded to include programs for elementary and middle school-aged students, which continue throughout the school year. None of The Academy’s programs are remedial, which means students must apply to participate and are accepted based on academic achievement and recommendations.
“Selective, but not exclusive” Ms. White called it.
A 501(c)3 nonprofit with a board of directors and a staff of eight, The Academy is no longer a one-woman show. Ms. White is now looking at establishing a succession plan.
“It doesn’t keep me up at night yet, but I spend a lot of time thinking about it,” Ms. White said. “We have to have somebody who has a love for the work and for the kids and some sense of the importance of education and cultural awareness. Someone who can keep body and soul together.”
For now, Ms. White is still that somebody and — like The Academy itself — she is still needed right where she is.
