Celebrating the past, and the future: Achieve Academy hosts Black History Month event

WARNER ROBINS, Ga. — Wednesday night was a night of celebration on Elberta Road, as the parents, students and staff of Achieve Academy in Warner Robins recognized Black History Month, paying tribute to the movers and shakers within the world’s Black community. From 6 to 9 p.m., the party went on, with those attending celebrating those who came before, as well as those who will come next.

Tara Pvel, founder of and educator at Achieve Academy, detailed the event, as well as some of the programs that led up to it.

“Last night was our Black History Month celebration, it’s the first one we’ve ever actually done, and we just wanted to invite the community out to see what our students have been working on this month.”

Wednesday night marked a month of recognition, with the youngest students endeavoring to dress as an impactful or historical member of the Black community and represent them in a Black History Pageant. The next class, the elementary class, held a dance and presented the surrounded crowd with relevant quotes while music played in the background, and the junior high class exhibited and auctioned art pieces commemorating Black History Month that they developed earlier in the month. Finally, the oldest class, Achieve Academy’s high school group, recited a poem they developed called “Black History and Me.”

“We’re 98% African American, Achieve Academy is,” Pvel explained. “I think it’s important because confidence is one of the big issues, especially with our boys. It’s important to link them with their past and see what people in the past were able to overcome. We have so many firsts in our community, so why not let them celebrate the firsts, and those achievements, and maybe see themselves in a different light?”

Wednesday, however, was not the only day the academy and its students and staff celebrated Black history.

Pvel told The Journal that the school has been recognizing the Black history and culture throughout February. Teachers decorated their doors, students have started each morning with positive quotes, news or affirmations, and the school has also held a read-a-thon: an event encouraging students to read, providing many of them an opportunity to read books by Black authors, talking about their experiences.

“I want to always celebrate the fact that [Black history] is bigger than [February], but it is a time we’re given to focus on it, and for a lot of families, it might just be February when you focus on Black history,” Pvel said. “It’s about opening doors to new knowledge that may spark a whole different conversation.”

Achieve Academy is described by Pvel as an “independent school.” Classes are offered year-round, though they aren’t required during the summer, and the school provides students and teachers alike with smaller classrooms, allowing teachers to spend additional time with each of their students.

The school got its start after Pvel, and her son, moved to middle Georgia from England. She began teaching him when public schools no longer provided what she thought was needed, and then more parents began asking that she teach their kids — in the time since, Pvel has earned the degrees of education necessary to teach, has got a building to teach in, and has staff she works alongside.

In an effort to provide their services to as many children as possible, the school does fundraising so they can offer scholarships to students who want to take part in their programs. Events like the Black History Month celebration are used to raise these funds.

The school takes students year-round, does not require an eligibility test, and has developed programs like “Reading with Kings,” a group focused on assisting young boys bolster their ability to read.

Wednesday was the school’s first Black History Month celebration. For more information on Achieve Academy, you can visit their website at www.achieveacademy.com, or by looking them up on Facebook at “Achieve Academy.” You can also find one of Pvel’s lessons, “Black History is Too Big for February,” on Amazon.

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