On an early Saturday morning, at the nonprofit Legacy Center in North County, a group of about eight educators sit attentively in a classroom. On a whiteboard before them is an assignment requiring them to answer questions like “What is a teacher; What is a student; What do students need to learn and What are the responsibilities of a teacher?”
What seemed like rudimentary queries were in fact part of an 8-week comprehensive classroom management program aimed at helping educators develop “practical, implementable strategies” to achieve impactful goals in urban classrooms.
The FLARES (Fundamental Life and Relationship Efficacy System) is a pilot program that began in January specifically for educators from the Bertha Knox Gilkey Pamoja Preparatory Academy @ Cole which serves pre-K through 8th grade students.
During Saturday’s programs the teachers excitedly shared strategies and successes they’ve learned about structuring classrooms for optimal results, mitigating confrontations, choosing class leaders and focusing on their student’s “superpowers” and much more.
FLARES is the result of a multi-year collaboration between Bolanle Ambonisye, founder of U&I-RISE, an adult education and training company, and Rashida Chatman, a math curriculum specialist with the St. Louis Public School District (SLPS). FLARES is currently marketed to urban schoolteachers, administrators and principals.
Chatman said the seemingly basic questions for the teachers were designed to “see where they’re coming from and what their perspective of what those things are and then help them structure them in their classrooms.”
Reflecting on that day’s lessons, a 3rd through 8th grade Pamoja teacher said the questions caused her to dig deep within herself and “maybe come up with a different educational philosophy.”
Lawreacia Tettekpoe, a native of Ghana and a 5th and 6th-grade teacher at Pamoja said the program has helped her “manage my class, manage my strengths and helped me learn how to meet the needs of my kids.”
Ambonisye said her parent company, U&I-RISE, is dedicated to addressing the unique challenges Black Americans face in schools, workplaces, and communities. For example, her program “Tapping Our Parental Power” is a workshop and book marketed to parents and institutions but also, she added, is designed for nonprofits, governments or correctional institutions, “wherever people want to guarantee quality education.”
She added that Pamoja Academy, which promotes an “African-centered” education process, was the perfect place to launch the FLARES program. Meeting and collaborating with Chatman was an additional blessing, Ambonisye said.
Chatman, a proud product of North St. Louis, describes herself as a “rebel.” She recalled her first days at Pamoja and her less than gracious reception.
“People would come into my classroom and be like, ‘Oh my God, you’re doing this wrong, you’re not teaching the way the book says.’ But, for me, I had to adapt to a way that was ideal for my students. I had to accommodate them based on their baselines.
“I used to get written up a lot at the beginning, but after my (student’s) scores came back the following year, administrators came back and said: ‘Oh, you do know what you’re talking about. You had the most growth in math testing, your kids performed the best.’ I was responded; ‘Thank you but I already knew that.’”
Before joining Pamoja’s staff, Ambonisye facilitated programs at several schools and school districts. However, parent participation was always a challenge. In 2012, she welcomed the opportunity to join Pamoja as a “family community specialist” with a goal of addressing parent engagement and involvement obstacles.
At Pamoja, Ambonisye met and observed Chatman.
“She reminded me of me,” she chuckled. “She (Chatman) did things that a conscious teacher would do. But I noticed that when she tried to share her methods with coworkers, they wouldn’t listen or try it. So, I told her, ‘We need to create a classroom management (course). It took several years but we finally finalized it.”
Once the pilot program was finalized Pamoja’s principal, Angel Nave, encouraged her teachers to take the course. Each week teachers are given specific assignments designed to help with their interactions and instructions with their students.
Both Ambonisye and Chatman’s approaches are designed to combat negative statistics related to Black children. For example, according to a 2024 Equal Justic Society report: Black students are 3.8 times more likely to be suspended than White students.
“The way our society is set up and with other distractions, parents don’t get a real sense of what children need,” Ambonisye stressed. “Unless you’re lucky enough to have been parented really well or you were just born with that instinct, a lot of us miss the mark because there’s just no process to equip us with that information.”
She shared her philosophy that parents and teachers are two sides of the same coin. “Parenting is just informal teaching and teaching is informal parenting,” Ambonisye said. “If I’m a teacher then I have the responsibility of bringing this classroom through a specific curriculum whereas if I’m a parent, I’m teaching my child everything I say and do…habits, attitudes and all.”
During Saturday’s programs the teachers excitedly shared strategies and successes they’ve learned about structuring classrooms for optimal results, mitigating confrontations, choosing class leaders and focusing on their student’s “superpowers” and much more.”
Kindergarten teacher, Tonya Hall said she loves the fact the program is African-centered. “That’s important to me that we get to teach our children about ourselves along with education,” Hall said. “I grew up in the culture and I love that I’m able to give that back and teach our children who have not grown up in the culture.”
Chatman and Ambonisye hope the pilot program will evolve into something that’s utilized throughout the region and hopefully nationwide. When asked where the need was greatest, Chatman responded affirmatively.
“Wherever our little Black and Brown babies are.”
Sylvester Brown Jr. is the Deaconess Foundation Community Advocacy Fellow.
Word Count: 926
U&IRise website: https://uandirise.com/