Founder of Eagle Academy schools compiles
library with role models for students of color
BY BILL PARRY
The founder of The Eagle
Academy for Young Men, which
operates one of its schools in St.
Albans, knows how important
it is to present positive role
models to his students.
David Banks, the president
and CEO of the Eagle Academy
Foundation has curated — in
collaboration with with Scholastic
— a new collection of
books for kindergarten through
fifth-grade classrooms containing
high-interest, authentic
texts that celebrate the stories
of Black and Latino boys, some
of the most historically most
underrepresented people in
children’s literature.
The “Rising Voices Library”
features nonfiction, biographical
and fiction titles paired with
teaching materials designed to
help foster rich classroom communities
through deep discussions
about social justice and
identity development, helping
students grow as leaders and
independent thinkers.
“The success of the Eagle
Academy Foundation model
demonstrates that young men
of color thrive in academic
environments where their
identities are uplifted. When I
worked with Scholastic to curate
the ‘Rising Voices Library’
collection, I wanted to expand
the reach of our educational
philosophy to classrooms
across America,” Banks said.
“Positioning young men of color
to succeed means teaching
them that they can dream as
big as the protagonists in their
favorite novels. We owe it to all
students to provide them with
literature that can elevate their
confidence, love of reading and
curiosity of the world.”
The complete “Rising Voices
Library” for grades K-5 features
300 books, including two
copies of 25 different titles per
grade level, in addition to storage
bins and book stickers for
organization. Teachers guides
which outline instructional
Eagle Academy exposes its students to positive role models and
now the school’s founder has developed a classroom library that
does the same. Courtesy of Eagle Academy
support for educators of each
grade level with implementation
strategies for integrating
the texts into book clubs, whole
class, small group and independent
reading and teaching
cards paired with each anchor
text, including suggestions for
exploring the text as an interactive
read-aloud, building vocabulary,
practicing reading strategies,
and extending learning
through writing, discussion
and art.
“Classroom libraries set the
tone for the types of learning
experiences and conversations
about books students will have
throughout the school year,”
Scholastic Education Chief Academic
Officer Michael Haggen
said. “It’s essential that every
child’s classroom library
contains a wide breadth of stories,
characters and formats so
that children see themselves
reflected in the books they’re
surrounded by and have opportunities
to learn from the
lives and experiences of others.
We’re proud to collaborate
with David C. Banks to curate
the ‘Rising Voices Library’
and change the scope of education
by bringing positive role
models into classrooms everywhere.”
For the 2018-2019 school year,
98 percent of seniors graduated
from the Eagle Academies and
100 percent of the class of 2019
was accepted to college. Eagle
Academies have an overall 86
percent graduation rate for
black students, 27 percent higher
than the national average.
They count on you,
So count on us to
keep you going.
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