Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hertfeat Saint Louis with a.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
K a holiday, bringing you the pulse of the city.
I've got a good friend of mine. I been knowing
him for about five minutes, you know what I mean,
really great guy. But we we we've been knowing each
other for about five minutes. But anyway, we're going to
talk about, uh, the E y C Academy that's here
(00:28):
in Saint Louis and in the studio right now. I
got the head of school, Lou Royce. Is that correct?
Speaker 1 (00:34):
It is correct?
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Okay, So Lou, how you doing today? Man?
Speaker 1 (00:38):
I'm doing well. Thank you for having me out here,
no problem.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
So, Lou, you are the head of school of E
y C. I right now. I was looking at this.
You know, it says E YC Academy empower, Engage, succeed.
But what do e y C stand for?
Speaker 1 (00:57):
So e y C stands for Empowering youth and communities,
and that really when we started the school back in
twenty eighteen, it was about students and it's about community.
You know, if I can really quickly, education has a
bad reputation right now, not just in Saint Louis, but
(01:20):
across the country. For me and for years, it's been
about learning, and learning is about opportunity and about outcomes,
and if we do it correctly, it's always and while
I sit in that chair, it's always going to be
about students and people.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Okay, So when we talk about students and people, and
you know, that's what everything is pretty much about with
the school. Let's talk a little bit about the school.
What is why EYC? What is it?
Speaker 1 (01:54):
So? YC is a private school. Like I said, we
started back in twenty eighteen. I was one of the
founders of the school and we are really we are
a private school out in Chesterfield. But you know, don't
let that detract from why we do what we do.
The hows and the what's are pretty easy, but why
(02:16):
we do it is we do it for students. You know,
everybody learns differently. You and I learn differently, you know,
from each other. I have strengths, I have weaknesses. Everybody does.
So really, what our teachers do is focus on relationship first,
build trust, and then you start creating success. And I'm
a firm believer that success builds on success.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
Okay, Now you talked about building trust. How do ey
go about building trust with the community?
Speaker 1 (02:45):
You know, because it starts with students, right. You know,
when we see students, they've been hurt, they've been harmed
by the system. You know, there's a term out there
that's educational trauma, and that trauma doesn't just affect students,
it affects entire families. Rights. It's impacting you know, brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers,
everybody's grandparents. And you know what we do first, you know,
(03:08):
even before that student is started at UYC is we
build a success plan. It's called an academic success plan.
And one of the best teachers I've ever worked with,
Sherry Hollander, does that for every single student that we
work with. So we're ahead of the curve. Right. It's
about being upfront and being proactive, not reactive.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Okay, So when you talk about, you know, building the
trust and that type of thing, let's talk about your teachers,
because you talked about the one teacher that, Yeah, what
what is it that the teachers at e y C
will do that is so amazing that people would say
(03:52):
I'd rather have my student, my child to go to
that school rather than another school.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Yeah, I'll tell you in a nutshell what I think
makes them wonderful? Is that first and foremost, they're teammates.
So when we look to hire, I'm not looking at resumes.
You know, that's a way to weed people out. What
we want to do is bring people in that connect
(04:18):
with each other, that work together, that support each other.
So it starts with teammates. So you hire good people,
You hire teammates, and then as an administrator, as a
principals ahead of school, whatever the title happens to be.
You know, really, my job is simple. I need to
build a framework for them, give them support, but then
get out of the way. Right. I see so many bureaucracies,
(04:41):
so many systems are so heavy handed and top heavy,
right micromanagers, that when you get out of their way,
teachers shine. And we have a group of the best
people that I could imagine working with. And I don't
think they work for me. I worked for them. You know,
(05:01):
we're in it, all of it, all the time. That's
what I think makes them fantastic.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
Oh well great, Uh, let's talk about you. You'd the
head of school. I'm sure you have a little bit
of a resume yourself. Where'd you get to start?
Speaker 1 (05:18):
Yeah, but that's my least favorite topic. I don't like
that one. You know what, when I started, I was
actually in sales. I was in sporting good sales. I
did that for the first fifteen twenty years of my
adult life. And then there was an event that happened
when my son was in the third grade that his
(05:42):
mom and I we had We got called into the
principal's office basically cour to attend this meeting, and there
was a big conference room table there. And you know,
this is a story that changed my life because in
that meeting, we were talked at through, over, around, but
never with We were never part of a conversation. Okay,
And that day, right before Thanksgiving, my wife ended up
(06:06):
pulling him from that school. And about three months later,
by January, I knew it was time to do something
different and I was never going to put myself in
a position that so many parents are in right now
that they don't understand what's happening, and nobody on that
side's talking. It's like they have information that they won't share.
(06:27):
And that made me go back to school. I was
still working sporting goods. I was working days and nights.
I was going to school Tuesdays and Thursday nights until
I got my master's and then the rest is history.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
Oh okay. So is EYC the first school you were
in administration or a couple others?
Speaker 1 (06:47):
Yeah, there was a couple of others. I was at
an alternative school also in Saint Louis. In that school,
we worked with more behavioral students, so it was a
pretty aggressive environment. And I did that for close to
ten years, and it was time to do something different, okay,
And that's how UICE came about.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
Oh okay, So you did say that you were one
of the founders of the school, right right, okay, So
let's talk about the community. How's the community over at YC.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
So our parents, our families, our students are fantastic. I
can't thank them enough. We had a water main burst
into ceiling on Sunday and we had flooding everywhere. The
lobby was destroyed. I showed you that quick video before,
in that five minutes that we've known each other, just
(07:38):
to get an idea. The guys that came out from
the recovery company were there within probably an hour and
a half, and in that first night they pumped out
seven hundred gallons more than seven hundred gallons of standing
water out of the building and they set up We
set up our social media guy, Nick set up a
(08:01):
gofund it meet campaign, and our families contributed. They're still contributing.
It's been I can't thank them enough. You know, this
recovery is going to take a while, but it's happening
so much faster because of all their support.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
Okay, so now when we talk about recovery, are you
guys able to have school with some limited space or
how does that work?
Speaker 1 (08:24):
Now? Right now the buildings shut down, it's all under reconstruction.
So what we're doing. We took everything virtual, so our
teachers are teaching remote. It's like the old COVID days.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
Oh my god.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
Yeah, except we do it better because you get live
teachers and they're still working with their students. So we're
really trying to just avoid learning loss and keep the
kids positive, keep the kids engaged.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
Okay, Now, if people want to, you know, take the
opportunity and say get more info about the school, how do.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
They do that? They can go to our website, which
is e y c Academy stl dot org, or they
can search us on social media. We're on all social
media platforms. They can find us those ways all right.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
Now, if I'm riding in my car right now listening
to this, and I'm a parent and I'm in search of,
you know, a great school for my kid to attend,
why should they choose e YC.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
You know, you know that's a great question. You know
there are many choices out there. But the way I
say it is, education has become a burden and the bar,
it seems to me a year after year gets lower
and lower and lower. We focus on test scores, We
(09:53):
focus on all the things that really don't help young
men and women become good adult And what we do differently,
and what like I said, is as long as I'm
head of this school, head of this program, what We'll
do is be flexible, be creative and create students, help
(10:17):
them find their voice and who they are.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
All right, well, uh, Lou Royce ahead of school for
EYC Academy. What they say, empower, engage and succeed. If
people want to get more information about the school, where
did they go?
Speaker 1 (10:36):
Once again, they can go to EYC Academy's website, which
is e y c Academy stl dot org.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
Already, Well, Lou Wash Lou Royce, thank you so much
for coming in today.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
Man, appreciate you, man, thank you for having me. It's
been it's been a blast. This has been another edition
of Heartbeat St Lewis with j J eighty bringing you
the pulse of the city.
Hertfeat Saint Louis with a.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
K a holiday, bringing you the pulse of the city.
I've got a good friend of mine. I been knowing
him for about five minutes, you know what I mean,
really great guy. But we we we've been knowing each
other for about five minutes. But anyway, we're going to
talk about, uh, the E y C Academy that's here
(00:28):
in Saint Louis and in the studio right now. I
got the head of school, Lou Royce. Is that correct?
Speaker 1 (00:34):
It is correct?
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Okay, So Lou, how you doing today? Man?
Speaker 1 (00:38):
I'm doing well. Thank you for having me out here,
no problem.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
So, Lou, you are the head of school of E
y C. I right now. I was looking at this.
You know, it says E YC Academy empower, Engage, succeed.
But what do e y C stand for?
Speaker 1 (00:57):
So e y C stands for Empowering youth and communities,
and that really when we started the school back in
twenty eighteen, it was about students and it's about community.
You know, if I can really quickly, education has a
bad reputation right now, not just in Saint Louis, but
(01:20):
across the country. For me and for years, it's been
about learning, and learning is about opportunity and about outcomes,
and if we do it correctly, it's always and while
I sit in that chair, it's always going to be
about students and people.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Okay, So when we talk about students and people, and
you know, that's what everything is pretty much about with
the school. Let's talk a little bit about the school.
What is why EYC? What is it?
Speaker 1 (01:54):
So? YC is a private school. Like I said, we
started back in twenty eighteen. I was one of the
founders of the school and we are really we are
a private school out in Chesterfield. But you know, don't
let that detract from why we do what we do.
The hows and the what's are pretty easy, but why
(02:16):
we do it is we do it for students. You know,
everybody learns differently. You and I learn differently, you know,
from each other. I have strengths, I have weaknesses. Everybody does.
So really, what our teachers do is focus on relationship first,
build trust, and then you start creating success. And I'm
a firm believer that success builds on success.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
Okay, Now you talked about building trust. How do ey
go about building trust with the community?
Speaker 1 (02:45):
You know, because it starts with students, right. You know,
when we see students, they've been hurt, they've been harmed
by the system. You know, there's a term out there
that's educational trauma, and that trauma doesn't just affect students,
it affects entire families. Rights. It's impacting you know, brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers,
everybody's grandparents. And you know what we do first, you know,
(03:08):
even before that student is started at UYC is we
build a success plan. It's called an academic success plan.
And one of the best teachers I've ever worked with,
Sherry Hollander, does that for every single student that we
work with. So we're ahead of the curve. Right. It's
about being upfront and being proactive, not reactive.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Okay, So when you talk about, you know, building the
trust and that type of thing, let's talk about your teachers,
because you talked about the one teacher that, Yeah, what
what is it that the teachers at e y C
will do that is so amazing that people would say
(03:52):
I'd rather have my student, my child to go to
that school rather than another school.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Yeah, I'll tell you in a nutshell what I think
makes them wonderful? Is that first and foremost, they're teammates.
So when we look to hire, I'm not looking at resumes.
You know, that's a way to weed people out. What
we want to do is bring people in that connect
(04:18):
with each other, that work together, that support each other.
So it starts with teammates. So you hire good people,
You hire teammates, and then as an administrator, as a
principals ahead of school, whatever the title happens to be.
You know, really, my job is simple. I need to
build a framework for them, give them support, but then
get out of the way. Right. I see so many bureaucracies,
(04:41):
so many systems are so heavy handed and top heavy,
right micromanagers, that when you get out of their way,
teachers shine. And we have a group of the best
people that I could imagine working with. And I don't
think they work for me. I worked for them. You know,
(05:01):
we're in it, all of it, all the time. That's
what I think makes them fantastic.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
Oh well great, Uh, let's talk about you. You'd the
head of school. I'm sure you have a little bit
of a resume yourself. Where'd you get to start?
Speaker 1 (05:18):
Yeah, but that's my least favorite topic. I don't like
that one. You know what, when I started, I was
actually in sales. I was in sporting good sales. I
did that for the first fifteen twenty years of my
adult life. And then there was an event that happened
when my son was in the third grade that his
(05:42):
mom and I we had We got called into the
principal's office basically cour to attend this meeting, and there
was a big conference room table there. And you know,
this is a story that changed my life because in
that meeting, we were talked at through, over, around, but
never with We were never part of a conversation. Okay,
And that day, right before Thanksgiving, my wife ended up
(06:06):
pulling him from that school. And about three months later,
by January, I knew it was time to do something
different and I was never going to put myself in
a position that so many parents are in right now
that they don't understand what's happening, and nobody on that
side's talking. It's like they have information that they won't share.
(06:27):
And that made me go back to school. I was
still working sporting goods. I was working days and nights.
I was going to school Tuesdays and Thursday nights until
I got my master's and then the rest is history.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
Oh okay. So is EYC the first school you were
in administration or a couple others?
Speaker 1 (06:47):
Yeah, there was a couple of others. I was at
an alternative school also in Saint Louis. In that school,
we worked with more behavioral students, so it was a
pretty aggressive environment. And I did that for close to
ten years, and it was time to do something different, okay,
And that's how UICE came about.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
Oh okay, So you did say that you were one
of the founders of the school, right right, okay, So
let's talk about the community. How's the community over at YC.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
So our parents, our families, our students are fantastic. I
can't thank them enough. We had a water main burst
into ceiling on Sunday and we had flooding everywhere. The
lobby was destroyed. I showed you that quick video before,
in that five minutes that we've known each other, just
(07:38):
to get an idea. The guys that came out from
the recovery company were there within probably an hour and
a half, and in that first night they pumped out
seven hundred gallons more than seven hundred gallons of standing
water out of the building and they set up We
set up our social media guy, Nick set up a
(08:01):
gofund it meet campaign, and our families contributed. They're still contributing.
It's been I can't thank them enough. You know, this
recovery is going to take a while, but it's happening
so much faster because of all their support.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
Okay, so now when we talk about recovery, are you
guys able to have school with some limited space or
how does that work?
Speaker 1 (08:24):
Now? Right now the buildings shut down, it's all under reconstruction.
So what we're doing. We took everything virtual, so our
teachers are teaching remote. It's like the old COVID days.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
Oh my god.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
Yeah, except we do it better because you get live
teachers and they're still working with their students. So we're
really trying to just avoid learning loss and keep the
kids positive, keep the kids engaged.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
Okay, Now, if people want to, you know, take the
opportunity and say get more info about the school, how do.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
They do that? They can go to our website, which
is e y c Academy stl dot org, or they
can search us on social media. We're on all social
media platforms. They can find us those ways all right.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
Now, if I'm riding in my car right now listening
to this, and I'm a parent and I'm in search of,
you know, a great school for my kid to attend,
why should they choose e YC.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
You know, you know that's a great question. You know
there are many choices out there. But the way I
say it is, education has become a burden and the bar,
it seems to me a year after year gets lower
and lower and lower. We focus on test scores, We
(09:53):
focus on all the things that really don't help young
men and women become good adult And what we do differently,
and what like I said, is as long as I'm
head of this school, head of this program, what We'll
do is be flexible, be creative and create students, help
(10:17):
them find their voice and who they are.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
All right, well, uh, Lou Royce ahead of school for
EYC Academy. What they say, empower, engage and succeed. If
people want to get more information about the school, where
did they go?
Speaker 1 (10:36):
Once again, they can go to EYC Academy's website, which
is e y c Academy stl dot org.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
Already, Well, Lou Wash Lou Royce, thank you so much
for coming in today.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
Man, appreciate you, man, thank you for having me. It's
been it's been a blast. This has been another edition
of Heartbeat St Lewis with j J eighty bringing you
the pulse of the city.
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