Pryor Legacy Project
2016
The Pryor Program is a leadership group at William Jewell College that requires the students to take certain classes, serve in the community, and participate in experiential learning trips. The culmination of this program happens senior year and is called the legacy project. The purpose of this project is to make a sustainable difference in the Kansas City area. Our class has chosen to partner with Urban Christian Academy to enable them to continue changing the lives of their scholars who will in turn change the community. We are excited about this project, and we hope you will be too! We have the ability to do something great, but we need all the help we can get. Read below to learn more about the amazing organization we are partnering with!
Pryor Legacy Class of 2016
Urban Christian Academy (UCA) is a private school that was co-founded in Kansas City by a Jewell alumna, Meredith Moore, and Kalie George in 2014. There are numerous non-profits in the surrounding area that help school-age children on a daily basis. However, the founders discovered that these non-profits were not attempting to solve the problem with education, but merely dealing with its repercussions. Despite the persistent efforts of Kansas City non-profits, students are still lagging behind in school. A professor at UMKC once put it this way, “there are really great people working hard to pull babies out of a river and revive them. Some are having success while other babies are dying. Regardless of the good work being done at the river, someone has to have the courage to walk up the hill and stop the babies from getting dropped in the river.” UCA is “walking up the hill and setting up shop to ensure that as many kids as possible will avoid the river of poor education.” The Academy has been growing each year due to their continued support within the community. UCA provides breakfast and lunch for free, as well as the students’ uniforms.
UCA uses an experiential model of learning. They believe that if the scholars can touch it and see it that they will absorb more of the information. They strive to take one field trip a week and use many tactile based lessons in class. This way of learning is not only innovative, but it's effective! Fewer than 15% of students in public schools in the area reach proficient in reading and math (in 3rd grade). However, 100% of scholars left 1st grade reading at or above grade level, and 100% of scholars scored at or above grade level in math! UCA is committed to providing a quality and engaging education for their scholars no matter their zip code.