Our People
The Achievement Academy is a partnership amongst dedicated students, our Board of Directors, our Advisory Council, our volunteers and our Co-Directors and staff.
Students:
The number of students that we can serve is determined by our funding. We serve any student who does their homework and comes to school every day no matter what their reading level is upon entry. Our average student arrives with a fourth to seventh grade reading level. See student stories to hear from their point of view.
Board:
Our Board of Directors is made up of educators, business people, and other community members all passionate about and dedicated to our mission of helping our students achieve their goals.
Advisory Council:
The Achievement Academy Board of Directors in 2007 created an Advisory Council. These community members are willing and able, through their experience and community standing in Durham, to help AAD further its strategic goals and objectives.
Volunteers:
A corps of dedicated, trained, volunteer tutors make our work possible. Our average student requires 250 to 300 hours of direct instruction, plus nightly homework, to achieve the level of competency necessary to pass the 5 subject areas of the GED. We could not accomplish our mission without the help of our wonderful volunteer tutors!
Co-Directors:
Gayle Erdheim, our Director of Academic Programs, has over 25 years of experience as an educational administrator, researcher, curriculum designer, and instructor. Her diverse classroom experience includes work in therapeutic and correctional environments, community based educational programs, and college settings. She is a former Peace Corps Volunteer and Founder/ Principal of a charter school. Her career as an educator has been devoted to designing programs that deeply integrate instructional and family support services and that enable youth struggling with challenging personal circumstances to succeed and thrive in school.
Sandy Ogburn, our Director of Administration, has over 25 years of public service in Durham. Sandy served for 8 years on the Durham City Council. She developed the Duke Neigborhood Partnership Initiative which benefits the twelve neighborhoods and seven schools surrounding Duke University. She serves on numerous local boards whose focus is to make Durham a better community for all of our citizens.
