Sparking classroom revitalization in the Rust Belt

Editor's Note: BankBeat intern Rhea Krumpelman highlighted the community work of seven banks throughout our coverage area for our October magazine. This is the fifth in the seven-part series, which is running throughout this month on BankBeat.biz. .In an effort to support teachers and students in the communities it serves, Huntington National Bank, headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, partnered with the Ron Clark Academy to launch the "Ignite the Classroom" initiative. .The Ron Clark Academy, in Atlanta, Ga., is a nonprofit middle school established by Ron Clark and Kim Bearden in 2007. The school enrolls approximately 150 students and serves as a demonstration school, inviting educators to observe classrooms and attend workshops focused on revitalizing teaching for student success. .This partnership builds on a collaborative relationship that began in 2022; over the past two years, Huntington has held educator events in Columbus and Detroit and sponsored more than 40 teachers' participation in RCA training programs. With their new partnership, scholarships will be extended to 2,000 educators over the next three years, providing the opportunity to experience two-day training sessions at the academy. .Through the "Ignite the Classroom" initiative, Huntington hosted more than 1,400 educators at events featuring Ron Clark in five markets across its footprint: Columbus, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit and Pittsburgh. In July 2024, more than 750 educators from these markets traveled to Atlanta for training. ."We go to professional development. People stand up in front of a room and they tell us all the things that we should be doing with kids. But, to see it actually happening — with children, in real time — it just makes sense," said Sara Williams, an educator at Livonia Public Schools in Michigan. Williams was one of many Huntington-sponsored teachers to highlight how unique it was to learn while actively participating with the RCA educators and students..By 2027, more than 7,500 teachers will have the opportunity to attend educator events in cities across Huntington's footprint.