Liberty academy deserves support
Shae Anderson and her father, Robert Lamar Anderson, are both deeply involved with the historic Liberty Theatre in Columbus. She is its executive director; he is chairman of the Liberty’s board of directors and a board member for 12 years.
Father and daughter also have in common a commitment to education: Shae Anderson is a former teacher at Carver High School; Robert Anderson taught high school science before a career in banking, is a former member of the Muscogee County School Board and, now retired, serves as a substitute teacher.
Now, as reported last week by arts writer Carrie Beth Wallace, the two are joined in a Liberty Theatre project that brings those passions together: The Robert Lamar Anderson Academy of Excellence. It’s envisioned as an arts program (and much more) geared to the special needs and concerns of young men at Baker Middle School. With luck, success and support, it will expand beyond that.
Shae Anderson’s experience teaching at Carver, she told Wallace in an interview, was the seed of the idea: “In light of the recent spike in crime in the area, I think there is a great need to reach our young men, so that motivated me to act on something I’ve been thinking about for quite some time.” The program’s purpose is not necessarily to prepare these young men for the arts (though that would be a happy outcome), but to inspire them with “increased confidence, leadership skills and even better self-esteem.” She decided to name the academy for her father, she said, because of his example of what a young man who enrolls in it should become: “an everyday working citizen, husband, father and servant leader who loves his city and the people in it.”
The Anderson Academy has not set itself an easy task: It is specifically seeking to enroll young men with scholastic, discipline and/or behavioral problems in school. In addition to training in and exposure to the arts, the school will provide mentoring, counseling and academic guidance. If it succeeds, a parallel program for girls might follow.
We can think of few youth-oriented efforts worthier of public support. For more information or to make a contribution, go to libertycolumbusga.org.
Vulnerable vets
It’s not on a par with some of the health care horror stories of the past few years. But the reported Pentagon cybersecurity breach involving millions of U.S. military veterans is an exasperating situation to learn about, and a nightmarish experience for some of the vets themselves.
A Vietnam Veterans of America lawsuit claims the Servicemembers Civil Relieve Act website has exposed veterans’ private information about their service and benefits to public scrutiny, including the exploitation of online con artists.
“Since they draw a steady, guaranteed income from the government,” McClatchy reports, “veterans are an attractive target for scammers.”
Too many vets have fallen through too many holes in too many ragged safety nets already. This one needs to be closed ASAP.
This story was originally published August 14, 2017 at 3:34 PM with the headline "Liberty academy deserves support."