Tag Archives: Tarrant

The Learning Curve

By David Hood, Induron CEO

Junior AchievementBack in the 1990s, I taught a Junior Achievement class to eighth graders at Tarrant Middle School, here in the Birmingham area. This was not the “project” many people associate with Junior Achievement, but an actual 50-minute class once a week for an entire semester with curricula offered by Junior Achievement. The regular Social Studies teacher remained in the classroom to help, but it was truly a “teaching experience” for me.

Tarrant is a “working class,” mixed-race suburb of Birmingham, and my classes consisted of boys, girls, black, white, motivated, not-motivated kids, just as you would expect. Some were from single-parent homes and some were from homes with both mom and dad. But many of them hadn’t had the advantages that other kids their age have had.

I started teaching this class not knowing what to expect, but soon found that most of these kids were bright, inquisitive and really interested in economics and “home business” (how I described balancing a checkbook, creating and sticking to a budget, paying taxes and getting and keeping a job). Continue reading The Learning Curve