EDUCATION
Food for thought
New project to provide third grade students with opportunities to succeed
What Bob Barnes did with The
Children’s Hunger Project
was almost a miracle. The
West Melbourne resident is
hoping for similar results with his latest
project, Aspiration Academy.
While the hunger project feeds the bodies
of disadvantaged kids, the academy
will feed their minds.
What is unique about Barnes’ new nonprofit
is its target audience, for the new
project is aimed at students performing
above their grade level.
“During the years of running The
Children’s Hunger Project, I came to
realize that there are two keys to a
child’s success in life: zip code and
opportunity,” Barnes said. “Research
demonstrates that a family’s income has
a significant effect on a child’s education
level. The zip code in which a child
is born is often a predictor of future
success or failure in school and life.”
The children of Aspiration Academy will
come from some of the county’s most
financially strapped zip codes. Barnes
76: SPACE COAST LIVING | SPACECOASTLIVING.COM
can’t change where the kids live, but he
aims to provide them with opportunities
to thrive.
The program, which starts in January with
third graders at University Park Elementary
in Melbourne, is anticipated to expand
to other Title I schools in the county and
rather quickly it should follow the path of
The Children’s Hunger Project. It focuses
on children not receiving the attention
they need.
“You have kids performing at grade
level and those struggling below grade
By Maria Sonnenberg
Bob Barnes, founder of Aspiration
Academy, and Deborah Kofkin,
Academy director of education,
chat with third graders at University
Park Elementary.
JASON HOOK
>>
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