The two-story brick home stands out on a micro block on the west side of the city. The dwelling on Clara Avenue, on a one-way street off Page Avenue is neighbored by homes, some abandoned, weed-covered or in various stages of disrepair.
“We have parents who are vaccinated, some who are and others who left their jobs because they didn’t want to be vaccinated,” said Shawn Harrell, the founder of Sovereign University LLC.
Not so with the home of Shawn and Denecia Harrell. A soft, yellow, chandelier light from the front porch window accents the white-painted porch and white wrought iron security door. Inside this warm setting, the day’s classes for Sovereign University, a homeschooling program are about to begin.
The dining room where the chandelier hangs has been converted into a workroom of sorts. Surrounding the six-foot oak wood table are bookshelves and roll-away carts with pull-out draws marked: “supplies, markers, paperclips, glue and paints.” Atop one cart sits an ample quantity of sanitizers, aerosols, and disinfectants.
“We take the kids temperature’s before they come through the door every morning,” Shawn Harrell, the founder of Sovereign University LLC, explained. “We also have someone come in every two or three weeks to deep clean the house.”
Harrell said he’s not an “anti-vaxxer,” even though he’s not vaccinated. He doesn’t like the label. I’d say we’re prochoice,” he said. “We have parents who are vaccinated, some who are and others who left their jobs because they didn’t want to be vaccinated.”
Harrell doesn’t adhere to some of the bizarre plots advanced by virus or vaccine conspirators. Instead, he said he and some of the families are upfront and honest about their vaccination statuses and choose how they want to protect themselves, their families and the children that attend Sovereign University.
Still, the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated Harrell and a group of parent’s desire to start Sovereign University. Harrell, who has a doctorate in higher education, leadership, and experiential learning, said he was already in the process of developing culturally specific homeschool curriculum.
“The pandemic created the perfect storm of chaos that allowed us the opportunity to take advantage,” he explained. “There was just so much of the unknown. Some parents weren’t satisfied with the options (virtual or in-person learning) offered by school systems, and, for me, my children didn’t enjoy school like they did before the pandemic.”
Harrell’s concerns are apparently shared by other parents. Experts say that homeschooling has been on the rise since the pandemic was first acknowledged in early 2020. The Household Pulse Survey, the first data source to offer statewide numbers on the impact of COVID-19 on homeschooling, found that by fall 2020, 11.1% of households with school-age children reported homeschooling. A 5.6% increase means that approximately 9 million children are homeschooled in this country.
Harrell said the seed of starting a homeschool program was planted long before the pandemic. It began after the police shooting of Mike Brown in 2014.
“I started meeting like-minded people at rallies and protests,” he explained. “I kept hearing that ‘we need to organize’ and come up with solutions for our children and I saw education as a means to that end.”
A group of concerned parents started holding weekly homeschooling classes at Yeyo Arts Collective on S. Jefferson. The classes focused on black history, business, entrepreneurism, and other areas parents felt lacking in traditional school settings.
Harrell, who described his passions as “education and community,” said he recognized “areas of disconnect” in the educational system and curriculums that weren’t beneficial- culturally or academically-to African American children.
“My life’s work is to fill those gaps, tie up those loose ends and create independent, educational solutions for as many families that’s interested in working with us,” Harrell said.
He defines the curriculum he has developed as “STEAM.” It’s like STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) but with an “A” added for Arts. The program, Harrell said, is a combination of STEM and African-centered education that hits all the core competencies required by the Missouri’s Department of Education. Sovereign University LLC also offers an African-centered curriculum that parents can use virtually.
At this point, about six families are attached to Sovereign University with roughly 12 of their children attending classes Monday through Friday in Harrell’s home. Three of the students are Shawn and Denecia’s. Their youngest child (age three) attends daycare. Denecia is a practicing doula and midwife. Harrell said his wife helps when she can but most of her time is dedicated to “birth work.” Other parents with the Sovereign University cooperative donate their time and expertise to help with instructing, physical education, field trips and other student needs.
For the time being, until the Omicron variant wave is under control, Harrell said the parents have opted for virtual instructing. This reporter visited the home on an early Monday morning, minutes before class started.
The Harrell’s three children, introduced themselves:
“My name is Nubia, N.U.B.I.A., I’m six,” the child confidently said.
Sophia (8) and Kingston (10) also made their introductions.
Kingston, the oldest, was frantically working on something. He seemed to be racing to beat the 9am start time. When asked what he was doing, Kingston pointed to a black and white rendering on his computer screen. It was a drawing of Malcom X surrounded by the words: “Education is Our Passport to the Future.”
“It’s for Black history month,” Kingston matter-of-factly explains. “It’s going on my business social media page.”
Like his father, who also operates a customized clothing business, Kingston, at the age of 10, has his own T-shirt and apparel business he calls “Sovereign Art.”
At about 9am, about five other kids joined the class by zoom. Their individual faces appear in squares on the Harrell’s 75’ TV atop a large, ornate, blonde wood table. The students start by discussing their weekend activities.
“We went to a birthday party for my cousin at Bounce U. and we bounced,” Sophia says speaking to her virtual classmates.”
When asked what she likes about learning from home, Nubia, the child with glistening dark skin innocently replies, “Um, I like it because we learn the truth about stuff.”
What kind of truth?
“Um, about black history and stuff.”
After the kids shared their weekend experiences, another day of learning at Sovereign University began.
Sylvester Brown Jr. is The St. Louis American’s inaugural Deaconess Fellow.
