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The story behind MindWorks Tutoring Program and Lake Country
Academy:
The
genesis of an idea...
The
initial driving motivation for this group started with a group of
parents and educators who were looking for a proven method of
teaching all children. The result of their search was a
method of teaching called Direct Instruction. While many
would simply classify it as an old-fashioned teaching style, it has
been fine-tuned, highly polished, and perfected - standing the test
of time and proven effective with all types of children. It has
consistently come out on top of government and university sponsored
tests of effectiveness compared with other teaching
styles.
The
dream takes shape…
Our founders continued expanding their expertise by
taking training in Direct Instruction at Direct Instruction
conferences in Baltimore, Chicago, Madison, and Orlando, and
studying Direct Instruction as it is implemented in the Verona
Public School System, Lodi Public School System, and several schools
in the Milwaukee Public School System. They found all participating
schools enthusiastic about the progress of their children and proud
to share statistics.
Dreams
become reality...
Excited about what they discovered was possible with
this system of teaching, they created MindWorks, Direct Instruction,
a non-profit tutoring program, to teach students who wanted to
accelerate their reading abilities. Students' abilities ranged from
below average to above average. MindWorks found parents were highly
pleased with the results and the students found the interactive
learning style fun and looked forward to classes. MindWorks found
that significant, since classes are held after the normal school
day. Parents who experienced the results of the classes in both
reading and comprehension soon began asking about math. Math classes
were then also added.
A
day school born of academic success...
After witnessing the success their children achieved
at MindWorks, several parents expressed interest in a full-time day
school. In the fall of 2001, Lake Country Academy opened its doors
at 3215 Saemann Avenue using the classrooms at Ebenezer Church with
15 children. As of January 2002, Lake Country Academy had already
grown to 19 children. In the Fall of 2002, Lake Country Academy
opened its doors to 54 students. Lake Country Academy relocated to
our third facility, a building in downtown Sheboygan, located
at 834 New Jersey Avenue. In the Summer of 2005, with enrollment
that surpassed 100 students, Lake Country Academy moved into a
permanent home of our own - a beautiful building on a 4.53 acre
campus on Sheboygan's north side.
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