Dejuan’s Story
One of the teachers serving on the Teacher Focus Group, Miss Copenhaver, works as a second grade teacher at Nathaniel Alexander Elementary school. On the first day of school last year, a little boy named Dejuan walked into her class. Other children were arriving at the same time with bags full of school supplies in tow. Dejuan nervously glanced around the room. His eyes were wide and his bottom lip started to quiver.
The only school supply that Dejuan had with him was a worn down pencil that he apprehensively fished out of his pants pocket.
Miss Copenhaver noticed his anxiety and encouraged Dejuan by saying “It’s okay, buddy, I have some supplies that you can use.” She gave him a piece of paper, showed him to his desk and asked him to write his name on the paper. After welcoming the other students, she went back to Dejuan to check his progress. She noticed that he had written “Buddy” on his paper; spelling it “B-u-d-d-e.” Miss Copenhaver knew immediately that something was wrong. She soon learned that at the age of 7 Dejuan did not know how to spell, not even his own name.
Through speaking with Dejuan’s mother, she learned that he was one of eight children under the age of 14, and that his family was struggling to make ends meet. With his parent’s work schedule, Dejuan and his brothers and sisters were forced to wake themselves up each day, get ready for school, prepare their own breakfast and catch the bus. Although the family wanted the best education for their kids, with their tough financial situation, there was not a lot of extra time to spend tutoring them.
On her next visit to Classroom Central, Miss Copenhaver found a touch pad learning system that she thought would help Dejuan. She sat down with him one afternoon and began working on his reading and spelling. Dejuan was so excited that he gave Miss Copenhaver a big hug. She was so thrilled to be able to help him and over the next few weeks Dejuan showed remarkable progress. He began to feel less anxious and showed a thirst for knowledge. Dejuan’s reading and spelling skills improved and because of his Active Pad he passed the second grade. Miss Copenhaver couldn’t bear the thought of Dejuan moving onto third grade without his Active Pad, so she gave it to him. He’s now using it at home and is helping his 5 year old sister who started school this year.