Ron Clark Academy Rocks!

This past week, my family and I were fortunate enough to attend the 8th grade graduation of the Ron Clark Academy.  It was amazing and so inspiring to see a class of powerhouse kids go on to new opportunities with confidence.  In case you don't know about the school, it was co-founded by Ron Clark (made famous by the TNT movie of his story) and Kim Bearden, both nationally awarded teachers who wanted to affect a major change in education.  We have all been blessed to visit the school, become "slide certified" (see below) and dream about the way education could be---and should be--- for our kids.

RCA accepts kids of varying learning levels, mixes them together with fabulous teachers and a code of respect and dedication to themselves and others, and produces amazing results.  I invite you to visit the website, see the videos of the school and become a sponsor. (www.ronclarkacademy.com)  When you see the change that you want in the world, you need to marvel, acknowledge it, then ACT. (Echo will be donating $5 per sweater sold to RCA each year.)

My fledgling clothing venture, Echo Clothing Company, was created on the concept of upcycling.  We define this as "taking a gently used item and through creativity and innovation, turning it into something better than ever before. " I think that the Ron Clark Academy strives for something far more important and world-altering, but similar in some small ways.  They take kids from challenging situations and look at them in a whole new light.  Through imagination, persistence, dedication and innovation, they mold kids that are sure to positively affect their world. Hopefully, as they do this, they also impact millions of educators, administrators and parents who can spread their message of hope- for students and education everywhere.