Description: This is
a VOA Special English Education Report.
See text below
Text:
Girls and boys usually attend classes together in
American public schools. But there are some
single-sex programs, like a girls public school in
Dallas, Texas. It opened in two thousand four. The
students have done well enough that the school
system is now opening a school for boys.Nakia
Douglas is principal of the Barack Obama Male
Leadership Academy. He says he was the kind of
student that the school is seeking. "I was born and
raised in south Dallas by a single parent. I was a
neighborhood child. I was that child that -- I would
work if I knew the teacher believed in me. But, at
the same time, I had a hunger and desire for
more."Educational researchers say boys learn in
different ways and mature more slowly than girls,
and are more likely to leave school. Being in class
with the opposite sex can also take attention away
from learning. Kendall Keeter thinks the boys school
will be good for his son the way the girls school
was for his daughter. "Our thought was to also give
our son an opportunity that would best prepare him
for college in the same manner she was prepared, and
I can't imagine any other option that would have
prepared her better."Another parent, Madeline Hayes,
also likes the idea of a publicly funded school for
boys. "This is something, as cheesy as it sounds,
that I've always dreamed about, that there will be a
boys school that doesn't charge twenty-five thousand
dollars a year, but would give the same academics,
the same level of interaction and leadership."The
school is for grades six through nine. It will offer
college preparatory classes and leadership courses
even on weekends. Principal Douglas says the boys
will be urged to support one another. "All of our
young men we call 'brother.' So it may be Brother
Malyk Davis or Brother Samuel Keeter. The young men
understand they are their brother's keeper. And so
the young men are really learning to be responsible
not only for themselves, but also for their brothers
here at the campus."Most students who want to be
accepted into the Obama Academy in Dallas will need
to have good grades and pass a number of tests. But
ten to fifteen percent will not have to meet all of
the entrance requirements. Principal Nakia Douglas
says they will have to show they have a strong
character and a desire to learn.For VOA Special
English, I'm Alex Villarreal.
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Hi. I
personally reviewed this video and found it appropriate for
the news section of English Global Group. This
is a Voice of America video which covers an interesting
topic in Special English. I would appreciate some feedback from both
students and teachers about this video. You can comment in
the window below using any of a number of different services
including Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, and Hotmail.
