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Meet Tracie Younce of New World Learning Academy in Chandler

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Tracie Younce.

Tracie, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I come from a long line of educators – teachers, principals, Superintendents, administrators, etc. My full intention at University was to graduate with a degree in Education. Once I dove in and really discovered how the system worked, I had a change of heart. I did not agree with the administration of the public school system. I decided to change degrees and fell in love with Sociology. After 12 years in Corporate America as a Benefits Consultant, I became a stay at home mother. It wasn’t until I had kids that I really began to look again at what our country calls our education system. I decided now was my time to make a difference in the Education of our future.

I decided to home school my children for preschool until I found a suitable program that would actually give my children credit and not be afraid to teach a 3 year old how to read. While working with my daughter and son, I discovered a private school for them that met my needs. I began to work at the school fell in love with the idea that I could make a difference in these children’s lives. Ideas started flowing on how I could make that a reality. I taught for a few years there all the while my wheels were still turning.

After a few years of teaching, I decided to branch out and create a different environment that captures what I know children can really do; teach them along our fast moving world rather than being stuck with the same manners of teaching as when I was a child; treat each child as their own and recognize that there are multiple issues that need to be addressed and learning environments that need to be maintained for proper learning to occur (this is not being done!). Cultivate the young minds that are keeping up with and in many cases exceeding expectations; create an educational environment that incorporates our ever changing technological advancements and ways of thinking. Whitney Houston was right – ”Children are our future’ and it is our responsibility as a society to educate them properly to prepare them to carry the burden of that future. I believe our current system is not prepared for that, nor are they making the proper preparations for change.

New World Learning Academy was built on the conviction that exceeding expectations in math and science will set up America’s children to make progress in school, their work environment and advanced thinking in the 21st century. My vision for our Academy is to prepare students of all ages but start young to think deeply and think well so that they have the opportunity to become the innovators, educators, researchers, and the leaders who can solve the most pressing challenges facing our nation and our world.

My wheels are still turning and I still have a lot of tricks in my bag for ways NWLA can bring this type of learning to our great City of Chandler. I chose the city of Chandler for my Academy because of their dedication to innovative technologies and commitment to future growth in the STEM fields.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It has been surprisingly smooth with the exception of finding a building. Once I start something, I see it through. The idea came, I tested it and ran with it from there. My building search took over a year which delayed my opening a year (due to the nature of the business – I needed to start the Academy on a school year or Summer Camps to meet my goals, expectations and financial burden). I decided to self-fund so that I have total control over the Academy. Once the building negotiations were complete, it has been fairly easy sailing.

I would not be here today if it were not for the hundreds of services hours from Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts, friends and family. Since I am a Girl Scout Leader, I used my resources wisely and incorporated STEM with my girls while helping me with my school. Over 75 girls and parents came to our Girls Build Day event to set up my school. They put together furniture, put up bulletin boards, organized files and manipulatives, set up my Library and Computer Lab, planted flowers, everything and anything I needed (and still need today – they are still volunteering!). In addition, our STEM Festival was born to bring awareness to our community about this initiative. The first STEM Festival we held, just last year, was completely run by Girl Scouts. Each Troop of girls (ages 7+) researched, developed and implemented a STEM Station at the festival. Attending families participated at each of these stations throughout the day. There was a ton of learning going on with this – Girl Scouts began to engage in something that many of the girls were either afraid of or never exposed to. It was a win win and exactly what we envisioned with our Academy.

That STEM Festival is one of our many annual events Open to the public and FREE to all Families. This year we are bringing out the big guns – Live band, an awesome Fire breathing, 300 mph Jet Dragster featuring Curt Eierdam – driver of the “INVADER”, local vendors, food, and lots of STEM stations to keep all minds engaged!

New World Learning Academy – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
We specialize in building a solid academic foundation for children ages 3-5 in the areas of Language Arts, Reading, Mathematics, Sciences/Engineering, Technology arts, culture and character on a well-rounded STEM based platform.

I am running a dual role this year. I began with one employee – my Assistant Director runs the front office, payroll, HR, manages our Individualized Reading program and keeps me on task. I handle the marketing, curriculum development, testing, staff and I am currently teaching the Pre-K core curriculum. I have been lucky enough to be growing and with that I keep my vision of one-on-one work with my students so I hired another teacher to assist with my class. We continued to grow and it warranted me splitting the class into two groups based on their needs and hiring two additional teachers.

My passion is teaching but I also know that for us to truly make a difference, we need to focus on making an impact for big changes to come. I am growing the Academy in an effort to bring awareness for much needed change – both in our local system and our Federal mandates and regulations.

I am most proud of how I have chosen the right people who truly understand the root of my vision and have jumped in like they own the place, and I mean that in a great way! All my educators AND their family members have provided me with so much love, support, assistance and guidance throughout this entire venture. I am proud to have such a great group of friends and community that have stepped up to help us succeed so that our vision will make the first footprint in our journey to bring about real change in our Education System.

What sets us apart from other Academies is there is no other like ours. We can honestly call our curriculum STEM as the curriculum is a STEM platform and not just a fun building exercise we do once a week. We are looking at the future and the needs of the future. The children in our Academy will be those adults in the future that will look back and distinguish those that truly understood their academic needs for a successful future. The idea that children can read and code at age three is unheard of in most preschools across the world.

Most preschools are daycare with some lessons thrown in. It is a standard, stock curriculum that does not take into account individual learning styles and needs of the children and change accordingly. Most schools are bogged down with tracking and maintaining standards and not accelerating those children who are more advanced. We do not have a ceiling on learning at NWLA, and we never will!

What is “success” or “successful” for you?
I like to define success as giving more than what is expected of me. I know what I am doing is making a difference in so many lives and I am most comforted and feel the greatest success when I see a child go above my expectations for them. It brings such joy to see their little wheels turning and eagerness for learning. Personally, that is the greatest feeling I could get from my vision!

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