The answer to core issues
we are facing in Madison.
Ignite Academy is our community’s answer to breaking the school-to-prison cycle by focusing on education and holistic services that works to provide a level playing field to support student’s ability to achieve a self-sufficient life.
If a student is kicked out of school or arrested and released back into the community, there is currently nowhere for them to go to help turn this around, so they tend to get into trouble that accelerates. These are the young individuals in our community who are stealing cars, breaking into homes getting into gangs and not contributing to our community in a positive way. Ignite Academy is ready to change this.
Scenarios that can negatively impact a student’s success and the scenarios we keep in mind:
There are kids in our community who struggle with many life challenges and disadvantages that can hold them back from succeeding in school and life.
For these students, they may be dealing with poverty, food insecurity, domestic abuse, mental health and addiction challenges in their home. Their home life is hard . . . and then they are expected to go to school and perform as if everything is fine. It’s downhill from there.
A student who was up all night because he was terrified as he listened to his mother getting abused . . . and got himself up in the morning to get onto the school bus on an empty stomach is not going to make it through the day.
When this student breaks down when the pressure is on and lashes out at the teacher and others, traditionally this student is seen, on the surface, as being a trouble maker. When, in reality, this kid is utterly exhausted, traumatized and hungry. When many of us can joke around about someone being “hangry”, for these students, their experiences can push them to the limit. When this student is then sent to the principal’s office for repeated bad behavior, they can find themself being kicked out of school. Now what?
Now they have nowhere to turn. They feel like no one cares. They are scarred and do not care about rules or anyone else because no one ever cared about them. So they make decisions to numb their pain or decisions that do not consider consequences to themselves or others.
With Ignite Academy, we frame our education model on reaching these students and addressing their unique needs, so they can have a chance at a life they never thought they would get.