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KMRIA: A Second Chance for Kids Who Can't Learn in Schoo
Nov. 9th, 2005 - Springfield Reporter
KMRIA, Inc., which stands for Kids Must Read In America, is a non-profit Alternative Education for Elementary and Secondary Subjects. The program provides second chances for students between the ages of K-19 who are experiencing difficulty being successful in traditional school settings or have dropped out of school. Meeting people in the real adult world and establishing liaisons in local restaurants, feeding youngsters, focusing on etiquette and life skills are the primary objective of the program. KMRIA is a non-profit organization that can take kids all the way to graduation and then assist them with finding employment. Founder Don McGee recently announced that the program is expanding to include additional counties in both Vermont and New Hampshire.
"KMRIA's major goals are education, employment and life skills, which these kids lack in sorely," Don notes as he explains the unique program. "We employ a starting over program and a briefcase on wheels system to successfully reach these kids and make sure they become productive and well adjusted citizens of their communities." He feels this approach to leaning both academic content and the content of living and life skills are what sets KMRIA apart from other systems and learning centers. Don asks the question, "After all, is tutoring an academic enterprise, mastering the content or is it the teaching of life skills and mastering the content of living?"
"Unfortunately the rising rate of dropouts continues and surpasses the Vermont Department of Education figures published in 2003 (5.26%)," Don notes. "In our area the percent rises to almost 11%. Add this to the number of students who drop out of school and have not learned basic mathematics or how to use English to read, write and spell. We are facing a new lost generation who know only a place to sleep and the streets on which they live."
"From "A Nation At Risk" to "No Child Left Behind," we've exhausted all of our time and energy trying to understand what is wrong with education," Don insists. "In reality, we should be looking at what has gone wrong in our society and what changes have been made to inflict our culture with the equalization myth. We've equalized our society to a point where children have no place to turn. All learning is a process of becoming and it is from this perspective that we must approach the future."
KMRIA and public or private schools enter a partnership to provide children the opportunity to learn curriculum using specialized software along with the help of certified teachers and instructors. Funding for this program comes through Special Education monies from the Federal Government along with state matching funds provided to schools. "We also receive contributions from the private sector, which benefits our programs greatly," Don notes. Upon completion, students can participate in their high school graduation ceremony and are considered graduates.
KMRIA, Inc. is a non-profit organization that has been successfully helping troubled teens start over for over four years. The most important aspect of KMRIA is the socialization work that is being done with each student, getting the child interested and involved in the adult world. KMRIA curriculum also provides food for children, because Don feels, "Providing a child with basic nutrition helps the individual's intellect function in a more normal mode and provides for better learning."
He explains his choice of doing lessons in local restaurants instead of other environments, "We attempt to achieve more. The adding of the bill and computing the tip teaches percentage, decimal, fractions, and a better mastery of math. Interaction with others in a public facility promotes learning rules of appropriate behavior. This learning also helps kids become at ease in an adult world and successfully interact with those who occupy the same space by learning proper conduct and behavior. All of this is put into practice in the skills that each child will need to function in the society."
KMRIA is inspired and rooted in Don's own past and his determination to help children who are not able to function in a traditional school environment. He explains how he came to devise this program. "I've been a teacher for the past thirty-four years. I obtained Masters and Bachelor degrees from Montclair State University and my principal certification (C.A.G.S) from Castleton State College. Most of my career has been spent in the classroom, but I have functioned as a department chair, assistant principal, and principal. Academically my majors were social studies and English. As a teacher I also became certified to teach psychology. I'm certified to be a principal in two states, but after my injury I was unable to find work."
In 1988 Don suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI). His short-term memory was lost and he spent most of his time going from one hospital to another attempting to find a cure. During the early 1990's he enrolled at Castleton State College and took enough credits to earn a C.A.G.S. certification, which qualified him as an administrator and principal in Vermont public schools. He worked as a substitute teacher and began working with Special Education students. He feels his story is not unique and many of today's young people face problems just as bold and frightening as TBI. He fully believes, "All they want is the chance to succeed."
KMRIA Inc. began on Halloween when a 501(3)(c) application was written with the H.R. Block for the state of Vermont. This was awarded on January 7, 2003. By February 24, 2003 the KMRIA Federal application was completed. One of the greatest absences of KMRIA was the failure to provide a facility to house the students they were going to teach. By the end of March KMRIA was informed that only one other 501(3)(c) had ever been accepted without having a facility, then on April 21, 2003 the federal government made KMRIA Inc. the second in the history of the U.S. to receive the rating of 501(3)(c) nonprofit corporation.
Students are educated in all of the requirements of the sending school, according to Don. Computers are made available, and using the internationally recognized software PLATO to teach core courses of Social Studies, English, Mathematics, Science and Life Skills sets the tone for the program. "The use of the RIPPLE EFFECTS software in the curriculum enables us to provide our students with over 700 "Life Skills" with real life situations, solutions and strategies." KMRIA is the only RIPPLE EFFECTS certified instructor in the New England region.
Teachers were given a hands on demonstration of both software programs at a reception held at Holiday Inn Express last week, in an effort to offer students a second chance. With KMRIA, Inc. Don hopes to guarantee that no child is left behind.
For more information about KMRIA call Don McGee at 802-885-1483 or e-mail him at donmcgee@kmria.org. His innovative program is often the last resort for students who have failed to function in other alternatives and he hopes to reach out even more in the future with the help of schools and another tutor, Ryan Marshall, who works with him in the expansion to include Sullivan and Cheshire counties in New Hampshire and Windham county in Vermont.
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