EAGLE SCOUT CONTINUES TO GIVE BACK

When Kwame Asante ran for city council in 1996, he did not own a car, relying on
public transportation and his own two feet to canvas the district.The grassroots-style did
not work. Kwame lost the election but the experience, he says, made him a winner.

He keeps the shoes he wore during his campaign trail because each hole represents a
lesson or friendship he garnered during that hot summer in 1996.“Those worn out shoes
are a constant reminder of my struggle. I don’t wear them day-to-day, but they are just as
useful today as they were in 1996. In 2005, they are still setting the pace,” says Asante.
Born and raised in San Diego, Kwame moved to Baton Rouge to attend Southern
University, where he majored in economics. After graduating, Asante taught special

education at Glen Oaks Middle School and several other area schools before entering
law school. After passing the bar, Kwame opened his own law firm Asante & Associates,
specializing in personal injury, bankruptcy and criminal law.

Asante also serves as the president of the local NAACP and uses the worn out shoes
as props when he visits schools as a motivational speaker. His beat-up wingtips have
become a tool in his personal mission to make a difference in Baton Rouge, particularly
in the black community. Asante tutors students in the NAACP Achievement Academy
every Saturday. He is the former coordinator of the Adult Education at the New Heights
Parent Information Center. Himself an Eagle Scout, he is also active in the Boy Scouts of
America Leadership Program.

Article originally published by the Baton Rouge Business Report in the 2006 40 Under 40 Edition.

The Achievement Academy Story

THE BEGINNING

Kwame Asante brings more than 15 years of experience in providing education and leadership programs targeted toward minority communities. In 1992, Kwame Asante created the Community Youth Leadership Program at Dalton Elementary in Baton Rouge. With a $15,000 “Learn to Serve” grant from the Lt. Governor office, the Community Youth Leadership Program provided a leadership and character development program for 50 students enrolled in a after school and Saturday during the school year. A partnership between Exxon Mobile and the Community Youth Leadership Program, Kwame Asante organized mentors and volunteers within the community, providing them with the opportunity to assist students in tutoring and mentorship.

In 1996, as a teacher with the East Baton Rouge school system and Vice President of the Baton Rouge NAACP, Kwame Asante created the Glen Oaks Middle School Partnership Program. The Partnership Program was established during the longest running desegregation lawsuits in the US between the East Baton Rouge School System and the NAACP, of which Kwame Asante served as Vice President. Using the opportunity to demonstrate true partnership and collaboration for the betterment of an inner city school, Kwame Asante joined businesses, faith leaders and the opposing counsel law firm representing the school system in its ongoing desegregation in a school improvement plan to provide needed academic assistance to students. 10 years later, the Achievement Academy would be recognized by the East Baton Rouge School Board as having a 97% LEAP Passage rate in Language arts for students participating in the Achievement Academy at Glen Oaks Middle School.

In 1997, Kwame Asante joined the Young Leaders Academy of Baton Rouge, a minority youth leadership program as the leadership instructor and creates the after school tutorial program at Belfair Elementary School. As part of the staff of the Young Leaders Academy, the program is recognized by President Bush with the Points of Light Award and twice awarded the Angel Award by television host Oprah Winfrey. During his time with the Young Leaders of Baton Rouge, from 1997-2002, Kwame Asante served as both leadership instructor and coordinator of the afterschool tutorial program, providing academic assistance to more than 200 students in a five year period. During this time Kwame Asante was recognized twice with NAACP’s President’s award for service to the community in 1996 & 1997.

In 1996, Kwame Asante runs for the Metro Council of Baton Rouge on an education platform that outlines a progressive plan of partnering local businesses, service organizations and the faith community in collaboration with area schools in an effort to reduce crime. Although Kwame Asante would lose the bid for the Metro Council, the educational plan is adopted by the local middle school in the district and becomes a successful partnership program that still exist more than 10 years later.

As Vice President of the Baton Rouge NAACP, Kwame Asante created the first Achievement Academy program at Glen Oaks Middle School in 2003. In addition, Kwame Asante created a partnership between the NAACP and the Princeton Review ACT Preparation Company to provide academic assistance in test preparation for inner city students from area high schools. More than 100 students registered for the Achievement Academy Saturday Program and 50 area high school students took advantage of the free college ACT Program offered by the NAACP. Through the program, the NAACP recognized a gain on average of 4 points on the ACT and achieved on average a letter grade increase in their in math and Language Arts.

From 1996 thru 1999, Kwame Asante works as a teacher in the East Baton Rouge School District, as a 4th grade and special education teacher. As a teacher and as Vice President of the NAACP, Kwame Asante created programs supported by community partners that was responsible for more than 150 students participating in career day programs.

Beyond Adversity: The Achievement Academy

The Achievement Academy: How One Program Is Making a Change

A conversation with Kwame Asante', Executive Director of the Achievment Academy

Since 2002, Kwame Asante has been actively engaged in providing educational opportunities for minority youth in Baton Rouge. As the Executive Director of the Achievement Academy of Baton Rouge, Kwame Asante has created a partnership program that provided funding for an afterschool program that offered academic assistance to more than 50 students. "Developing the funding and relationships necessary to provide the educational assistance necessary to sustain the program was one of my most challenging and rewarding experiences. Through the relationships created, I learned of the wide range of educational issues being championed by organizations such as NAACP." In the summer of 2002, the Achievement Academy would offer to Baton Rouge Students its first summer program at Baton Rouge’s oldest Charter School Program, the Charters School for Apprenticeship Learning. Through the partnership and collaboration, the Achievement Academy gained much more than ally in providing educational programs for young people, but a greater understanding and awareness of the need and bright future alternative educational options present to minority communities across America. It was at that point that Kwame Asante decided to join the work of the NAACP in collaboration with the Achievment Academy and became an active partner in educating others on the opportunities and vision that could lead to community progress and success. As Executive Director of an educational program, funded through the No Child Left Behind Act, Kwame Asante recognized the untapped opportunity and resources educational programs such as the Achievement Academy could provide to the African American community as an ambassador for change and progress.

The Road to Success Aways Starts Uphill

In 2003, the Achievement Academy applied to the Louisiana Department of Education to become a state approved Supplemental Education Services Provider. Even though the program had been recognized as model for academic success by outside evaluators, experienced educators and East Baton Rouge School administrators, the program was denied approval in 2003 and 2004. However, without public funding, the Achievement Academy continued to provide services to students and families throughout the Baton Rouge area. By 2004, the Achievement Academy had expanded its community initiatives to include a year around academic offering through its afterschool and summer programs as well as developing extensive partnerships to deliver such services as parenting programs through the YWCA. In 2005, the Achievement Academy was granted temporary approval as an emerging program with the Department of Education, and in the spring of 2006, after its first full year of service, was recognized by the East Baton Rouge School board as the only program in the parish to have a 97% Language Arts passage rate on the LEAP exam. By 2007, the Achievement Academy would serve 700 students in three parish’s state wide and branch off into children’s advocacy and voter empowerment in addressing children’s issues during the 2007 legislative session by supporting ballot initiatives to increase statewide teacher pay, health care centers in public schools and expanding funding for Head Start Programs in Louisiana. Through those experiences, I developed the tenacity to remain determined and steadfast to the values by which I first began the Achievement Academy. I remembered that when I began, I was a volunteer and that our mission was to provide educational assistance to the numbers of minority children lacking academic success in traditional school environments. The belief that I was part of something that was larger than me was my single focus and enduring motivation. In September of 2007, the Achievement Academy was granted full approval by the Louisiana Department of Education and plans to offer afterschool programs in 7 parish’s state wide.