We are actively involved with The landmark Schools Outreach Summer Program out of Boston, MA, sending 8 educators every summer for one week, to help broaden their thinking about how to help students learn by providing the bridge that links teachers with the evidence-based practices that improve a students outcome.  The Landmark School does not deliver pre-packaged programs, they challenge teachers to understand the nature of language-based learning difficulties and find ways to make evidence-based practices work in their own classrooms. Educators who work with Landmark report significant increases in knowledge about LBLD and confidence in implementing language-based instruction.

I give you my testimony of Landmark School’s ability to help our children, I am a parent myself, who went on a mission to find that school that could help my son with severe dyslexia/dysgraphia as our public schools gave us no hope.  Through this journey, my son not only graduated from High School in 2005, but he went on to graduate from college in 2010.  My son succeeded when the odds were against him.

My goal is for our community to be supportive and spread the word that A-Kids-Choice Foundation is here to help our children/students and to provide more insight to help all students succeed in a classroom!

Sincerely,
Denise Bankston

I am very proud to send you educators to the Northeast to learn some of the very best ways to use the given tools, skills and strategies that you will gain knowledge of soon!

Your journey has just begun!

Sincerely,
Deedee

Julie Templin, MichaelAnn Behrens, Leslie Hadwin, Shawn Fields, Stacy Croft, Kelli Haltom, Rachel Schillage, and Debbie Vanderpool

There were plenty of important people there; the Superintendent, school board members, principals from other schools, Rick Rowe from KTBS. But it was the woman sitting on the right side of the stage, flanked by her family, that was the real guest of honor.

Denise Bankston, founder of A-Kids’-Choice Foundation, came bearing gifts, and anyone familiar with “Mrs. Dee Dee” knows she is a woman whose life revolves around giving back.

“Do you struggle with learning?” Bankston asked the students. A few hands went up. “Do you think you learn differently than your classmates?” More hands. Bankston then told the story of her son, J.T., who struggled with dyslexia. It was his ninth grade year that she and her son moved to Boston, Massachusetts, so he could attend The Landmark School, known worldwide for helping children with learning differences. At long last, all the pieces of the puzzle came together for J.T. He learned how to express his thoughts in writing and understand what he was reading. He not only graduated from high school but went on to college and earned a degree.

“I never gave up,” J.T. told the student body. “Be an advocate for yourself. If you don’t understand your homework, speak up. Tell your teacher.”

Thanks to his mother’s foundation, three teachers at Legacy joined five others for a workshop last summer at The Landmark School, so they could better help students with learning differences. They have already seen remarkable progress in those students. This summer, A-Kids’-Choice Foundation is sending eight more.

But that wasn’t the surprise on this particular morning. Denise Bankston announced she was adopting Legacy and every child there was getting a special necklace, inscribed with the words “Faith. Hope. Love.” The necklaces, she told them, are symbolic of more than 24,000 cups of food for hungry children across the nation.

She then asked her granddaughters, Abbie and Emma, to help her present another gift — a $10,000 check made out to the school. Principal Pam Williamson hinted that the money may go toward supplementing the phonics program and perhaps professional development for her teachers. That way every child can benefit.

“Thank you, Mrs. Dee Dee. You rock!” cheered Legacy’s cheerleaders.

Yes, you do, Mrs. Bankston and so does A-Kids’-Choice Foundation.

As each class filed into the gymnasium, a student presented Bankston with a flower. Others came bearing cards and hugs. And once seated and on cue, the entire student body held up signs saying “We thank you, Mrs. Dee Dee.”

“The investments Mr. and Mrs. Bankston have made in Bossier Schools go far beyond Meadowview Elementary,” Bossier School Superintendent D.C. Machen told the audience. “They see the importance in investing in students but educators as well.”

Last summer, A-Kids’-Choice Foundation sent several Bossier Parish educators to the Landmark School in Boston, Massachusetts, for a week — all expenses paid — to learn how to better teach children with dyslexia and other language-based difficulties.

Landmark is near and dear to Bankston’s heart. Years ago when her son, J.T., was about to start high school she went on a journey to help him with his dyslexia. That’s how Bankston discovered Landmark, a world-renowned high school that specializes in  teaching children with language-based learning disabilities. She has now made it her mission — and the focus of A-Kids’-Choice Foundation — to help other children with similar struggles and offer professional development to teachers.

At the assembly, Bankston had another surprise up her sleeve. She announced her foundation was sending eight more teachers to Landmark this summer — all from Meadowview. Rachel Schillage, Shawn Fields, Stacy Croft, Debbie Vanderpool, MichaelAnne Behrens, Julie Templin, Leslie Hadwin and Kelli Haltom will be packing their bags and heading to Boston this summer.

And if that wasn’t surprise enough, Bankston and her family handed out more than 600 necklaces with an inspirational message — one to each student and faculty member — and explained that each necklace was symbolic of 25 cups of food that will be provided to hungry children living in America.

Dr. Barrett is still floating on cloud nine since Bankston chose to focus her time, energy and money on Meadowview this school year. The signs her students made say it best. “We love you, Mrs. Dee Dee!”

Article from Bossierschools.org