Dillard students are notified of acceptance into Tiger Academy
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on July 19, 2016 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Casie Penner presents a certificate of acceptance to Dillard Middle School's Tiger Academy to rising seventh-grader Joshua Chase outside of his home at Alpha Arms Apartments on Monday afternoon. A team of staff and students traveled around the Dillard school district delivering the news to applicants who have been waiting several months, many of whom were expecting a letter in the mail.
Felicia Dawson was enjoying a day off from work Monday when the big blue and white activity bus from Wayne County Public Schools pulled into Alpha Court shortly after 1 p.m.
A dozen adults and children poured out of the vehicle, with a mission -- handing out acceptance letters to students who will make up the new "school-within-a-school" at Dillard Middle School in the fall.
The first person on their list was Ms. Dawson's son, Joshua Chase.
He's still sleeping, she said with a laugh.
But the group, which included the school's principal, assistant principal and some of his teachers, persisted.
Surely he'll want to wake up for this, they said, without giving away the surprise.
Moments later, the rising seventh-grader met the group at the apartment door.
"We want to tell you that you have officially got into Tiger Academy, son," assistant principal Jamel Jones said, handing the youth a letter of notification. "We'll be doing project-based learning and all that fun stuff we talked about doing."
Without a word, Joshua hugged Jones. Then Sonja Emerson, his principal. Then hugged them again.
Ms. Dawson admitted she had not heard of Tiger Academy until her 11-year-old son -- he turns 12 next week -- came home before school dismissed for the summer and expressed interest in applying.
"That's all he could talk about, he kept asking for the mail," his mother said. "I don't check the mail every day."
It didn't matter. The letters wouldn't be found in the mailbox. The plan was to hand deliver the news.
The concept is still new to many, the district only signing off on it in recent months as an effort to change up the approach to education at the middle school.
In the fall, Dillard Middle will infuse more electives into the last hour of the day, allowing students to choose areas of interest and develop individual strengths. The concept of "project-based learning" has been called a dynamic classroom approach in collaborative learning.
Tiger Academy will be an offshoot of this, a smaller version housed in a wing of the school.
"We'll have about 90 students, grades six, seven and eight," Ms. Emerson said.
To generate interest, the school held grade-level meetings, sharing the concept and opening up the application process to every student in the school.
"We announced it every day. We explained to students it was a new way of learning," she said. "Our guiding mantra and theme is service, leadership and government. There's a service project component."
Applications were due in the spring. And then officials went to work determining which students would benefit most from the experience.
"They have no idea we're coming" to deliver the news, the principal said. "We were starting to get phone calls, 'Did my baby get in?' 'Did my child get in?'"
Conswello Darden, mom of eighth-grader Kailla Darden, said she didn't expect representatives from her daughter's school to show up on her doorstep with the news.
The surprise factor was part of the plan, making it, and the students, realize how special the opportunity will be.
Casie Penner, English/language arts teacher, said she enjoyed being able to deliver the news in person to some of her students, like Joshua.
"It makes me extremely excited, especially since I know Tiger Academy is going to challenge him in a whole new way," she said. "This is going to allow him to be that much more creative."
Charlie O'Neal, a coach who has taught math and pre-algebra at the school for 10 years, said he looks forward to being part of Tiger Academy.
"You know the kids, all of the kids, have a lot of potential," he said. "Just to be able to work with them is truly a blessing. I'm ready!"
The purpose of Monday's notification was to get the word out and build enthusiasm, Jones said.
"We wanted them to know that it's a big deal," he said. "We want the community to get excited about it and we're following through on what we said we wanted to do."
The only down side was that a number of the students weren't at home.
For those, contact will be made by phone and letters, along with parent information, sharing specifics and what the school's conversion means, Jones said. There will also be an orientation camp for the Tiger Academy students Aug. 4 and 5.
Meanwhile, staff is devoting the bulk of its summer to training and preparing for the school revamp.