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3A NEWS/iE^e Charlotte $oat Thursday, June 1, 2006 Academy graduates first class Continued from page 1A The “individual” she speaks of are students that have been suspended or kick-ed or pulled out of Charlotte- Mecklenbxirg Schools. Ranging in age fium 14 to 19 years old, the academy teach es grade 9 throu^ 12, in a totally non-traditional way The two created a holistic approach to teaching these students, with no more than 10 students per class. 'When they come into EHte, we go throu^ what their skills are, what their hobbies are, what their interest are,” said Miller-Cannon, They also examine the external or internal issues that may be keeping the students fiom achieving their goals. “What we do is we inter twine academics along with social skills to make a better person as a whole ... and equip them for going out in the community [to] be suc cessful working citizens.” A dream, a school The school is the end result of Daviaus’ dream. Miller wanted to give youth neces sary resources diat he did not have when he was growing up. “The opportunity to be able to consult someone who maj'’ have had some type of the same stn^^es that I was going through when I was in hi^ school, that was proba bly one of the primary things...that made me want to... offer those type of resources to young people,” said Miller. “As teenagers, they lack resources, they lack the ability to... express them selves fully That opportunity we are giving them,..vdll enable them to produce themselves as self-sufficient young people for society” In 2003, Elite (then known . as the Elite Alternative School) began while contract ing with Charlotte- Mecklenburg Schools. CMS sent them students that were suspended or expelled on a short or long-term basis. However they quickly found that they didn’t have the resources for an accelerated mastery program and many of the students they were sent had no interest in being in school at all. “There were...a lot of students in that program who just did not have a desire to do any thing, to be anything other than a nuisance,” said iVEUer- Cannon. They chose 27, of 150 students, to groom over a summer break, and allow them to make the choice to continue on -with EUte Academy, instead of Ehte Alternative. Miller and hhUer-Cannon ended their contract with CMS, and so began the jour ney at Ehte. “Seventy-five percent of Ihe young people we brought with xis, fi-om the CMS con tract, were labeled as aggres- sive-natured students; they were kicked out for some a^ressive act or behavior in the school system,” Miller said, ‘We have not had one altercation since our incep tion, not one incident of an aggressive nature. 'We are teaching a com- raderie of brother and sister hood. They understand I can not beat any opposition with my hands,.-that has to be a sense of me using my mind and my intelHgence to produce a lo^cal decision.” Five of the original 27 either moved away or trans ferred back to CMS schools. ‘We had a stricter curricu lum, there were stricter uni forms, and much more was required of them,” said MUler-Cannon. “It’s a very rigorous program, but it’s fiiU of love and care at the same time. We do require a lot of our students, academically and socially We don’t just put up with anything.” The parents are behind the school as well. “If we are doing it eight hours here, they need to be doing it tile dght hours there. We find that parental re enforcement to what we are implementii^ here at school does a 360 degree turn around in a child’s life. We’ve been pretty successful in see ing the results,” said Bawanna MiUer-Cannon. Thou^ they have had good results, their journey has not been an easy one. In addition to working with students, the public school system kicked out, the duo has faced some serious financial problems. This year, both Davius and Bawanna had to go without salaries to keep the school going. Also, this school year students and parents had to pay for their uniforms, but they made sure they were not too expoisive. This is the first year they had to make these decisions, but neither of them was ready to see the school go under. Making do Tbday, Elite is housed in a refurbished home. The first floor is made up of aU admin istrative rooms, and the sec ond floor, or the attic, holds the computer lab and admin istrative offices. A shed-hke complex in the back holds tables and a dry erase board, and acts as a study and hang out area for the students. There is a bus for filed trips, and an older one that acts advertisement. The mobile units on the prop erty represent the future. The house will continue to be used for administrative offices’, however the units will house four classrooms, which still need to be com pleted. “Currently it is just storage for textbooks,” explained MiUer-Cannon. The school’s first gradua tion is June 9 at 11 a.nL at Tferesa Clark Elder Park. The night before, their first Graduation Banquet wiQ be held at Zion Renaissance Compile. The goal is to raise $10,000 to support the finan cial needs of tiie students and tile school. Tferesa Clark Elder, who a member of the academy’s board, is spearheading the Banquet Event, “She says everyone who is someone will be there,” said MiUer-Cannon. Tickets for tiie banquet are $30.00 per person. Tables are also available for purchase. IVfiller-Cannon is also work ing on a summer fundraiser for the academy, trying to get 350 local businesses to donate $1,000 a year. “This would allow for every student to have their own scholarship in place, to them throu^ to graduation,” she said. “Financial problems are just another stumbling block. ‘We don’t let it stop us. We just continue to push for ward. We know what we’re doing is really working. We’re seeing the finits of our labor now.” Graduation day The finits of Elite’s labor are their first eight gradu ates, seven of which were part of their original stu dents. ‘We learned that our blessings are not in the money but^ seeing the stu dents being turned out into society” said Miller. “It’s absolutely mind blovraig that these were students that were coimseled out.., and people believed they were not going to be successful,” The graduates are headed to universities, Barber schools, nursing schools, and one is even headed to the NASCAR Racing Institute in Texas. “Our first ei^t graduates are a special class. Iliey were here fix)m the beginning, and now they’re ready to go out and take tiie world by stoim, socially and academically And we’re proud of that,” said Miller- Cannon, ‘We are absolutely proud of that.” For information on Elite Academy call (704) 921-1121. PLANNING A FAMILY REUNION Best price on tee shirts, hats, totes, & more! 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The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.)
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June 1, 2006, edition 1
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