By Sheri L. Stuart, Staff Writer
It’s been more than 50 years since Myron McFee Tucker and a group of neighborhood kids walked the halls of their local elementary school. A lot has changed. Walter E. Scott Elementary School is now Scott Accelerated Learning Academy and home to 7th through 12th graders. This fall, Tucker and a dedicated group of childhood classmates returned to the school where they once created fond memories to present SPEAK to BE HEARD, an interactive youth-based program that provides tools that enable students to become better communicators
“My vision was to create a space where our youth could become better communicators,” said Tucker, a TEDx New York Salon presenter and designer of the curriculum. “We’re always speaking, but are we communicating in a way that leaves a good and memorable impression,” said Tucker a life fitness coach who has also successfully managed the construction of many real estate projects on both East and West Coasts.
As part of the interactive classroom sessions, students are taught how to develop speech topics and techniques for effective delivery to any audience. Scott students selected topics that relate to the world that they experience on a regular basis. Their chosen topics included, school violence, bullying, communication between teachers and students, the Flint water crisis and the need for arts and science classes in schools. Students presented their speeches to their teachers, fellow students and some parents.
“My goal is to bring the curriculum to at least one major city across the U.S. within the next couple years,” Tucker said.
Scott school alum and volunteers supporting the vision, include Sheryl Thompson, Kevin Washington, Crystal Flynn, Bishop Urundi Knox, Rawlan Lillard II, Gregory S. Harding, Sr., Sheri L. Stuart and Scott Principal Kelly Fields.
