ACE Academy: Staff

Jason J. Ogle, A.B.D.
ACE Academy Director
Head of the African and African-American History Team

In July 2006, at the request of Dr. Benjamin L. Hooks, Mr. Jason J. Ogle (former chair of the English, Speech, Drama, and Publications Department at McDonogh 35 Senior High School in New Orleans) agreed to serve as Director of Global Education Partnerships at the Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change for the academic year 2006-7. His first priority is to transform ACE Academy from a cultural enrichment camp into a rigorous college preparatory program.

Mr. Ogle’s commitment to social justice, global diversity, and the empowerment of the historically disenfranchised compels him to commute to Memphis up to three weekends each month to run ACE Academy and cultivate corporate sponsorships. During the week he teaches a full load of AP English Language and Composition courses as well as Creative Writing at Stafford High School in Stafford, Texas. He also serves as an English curriculum specialist for the district and as a paid mentor to incoming teachers.

During the month of August alone, Mr. Ogle revamped ACE Academy’s curriculum and recruitment strategies. Under his direction, enrollment at the Academy has quadrupled in comparison with last year’s pilot camp. He recruited a development coordinator; a world-renowned poet and co-director of one of the most successful urban student writing programs in the country (Students at the Center); sixteen Hooks teaching fellows of African-American Literature and African/African-American History, including graduate and qualified undergraduate students from at least eight departments at two notable southern universities; and two college freshmen from Melrose High School to teach the math/science/ACT prep component of the Academy. In addition, he has involved six Hooks Institute Faculty Affiliates to serve as pedagogy and content coaches. Continue reading...

Kalamu ya Salaam
ACE Academy Head of Writing Specialists

Kalamu ya Salaam ("Pen of Peace") is head of the Writing Specialists for ACE Academy. “Born Vallery Ferdinand III on March 24, 1947 in New Orleans, Louisiana, Mr. Salaam is a professional editor/writer, filmmaker, producer and arts administrator. He is the founder and director of NOMMO Literary Society, a New Orleans-based Black writers workshop. Salaam is also the founder and moderator of e-Drum, an informational listserv for Black writers and diverse supporters of literature worldwide.

He is the author of What Is Life?-The Reclamation Of The Black Blues Self (1994, Third World Press). An excerpt from What Is Life? was used on the national ACT examinations as part of the reading comprehension test. Kalamu ya Salaam has served as a panelist for arts awards and grants programs at the local, state, regional and national level, including four years on the NEA music panel and one year on the NEA literature panel.

Kalamu ya Salaam is the author of seven books of poetry: The Blues Merchant (1969), Hofu Ni Kwenu/My Fear Is For You (1973), Pamoja Tutashinda/Together We Will Win (1974), Ibura (1976), Revolutionary Love (1978), Iron Flowers (1979), and A Nation Of Poets (1989). He has also written two books of essays: Our Women Keep Our Skies From Falling: Six Essays In Support Of The Struggle To Smash Sexist And Develop Women (1980) and Our Music Is No Accident (1987), an essay accompanied by 20 duotone photographs. Continue reading...

Ladrica Menson-Furr, Ph.D
ACE Academy Head of the African-American Literature Team

Dr. Ladrica Menson-Furr is assistant professor of African American literature at The University of Memphis. She is a graduate of Spelman College and completed her graduate studies at Louisiana State University. Dr. Menson-Furr’s research interests include twentieth century African American literature, dramatic literature, and the life and works of Zora Neale Hurston. Dr. Menson-Furr’s publications include biographical chapters on dramatists Ed Bullins and Victor Sejour in African American Dramatists: An A-Z Guide and articles on August Wilson (Mosaic, December 2005) and Zora Neale Hurston.

Marlon D. Ridley, B.S.E.E.
ACE Academy Head of the ACT Prep Team

In 2006-2007, Marlon D. Ridley will be providing ACT and SAT tutoring as an integral part of ACE Academy. Ridley, a native of Nashville, TN, received a Bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering in the fall of 2003 from The University of Memphis. Currently, he works as a research assistant in the Department of Physics’ Biomaterials Industry / University Center for Biosurfaces (IUCB-NSF) laboratory. His original research on biomaterials has taken him around the world, from Australia to Italy, and across the country to present his work. There are many research projects that have nourished his experience and technical knowledge; he has worked with institutions such as Los Alamos National Laboratory, the University of North Carolina (Greensboro), Massachusetts General Hospital, and Harvard Medical School, as well as with corporations such as Wright Medical Technologies, Zimmer, and Smith & Nephew. As an undergraduate, Mr. Ridley was a McNair Scholar (a TRIO program) and he currently holds a Tennessee Board of Regents Graduate Minority Fellowship. As further evidence of his leadership and organizational skills, he holds various regional positions with The National Society of Black Engineers and is the Society For Biomaterials National Student Secretary. At the Benjamin Hooks Institute, Mr. Ridley continues to expand his already develops strong mathematical and science outreach programs. He is dedicated to counseling high school students and re-creating the same types of opportunities that were made available to him during his formative educational years, a delicate stage. “I am extremely proud of the time I spend in the community and the strong influence I have in generating future scientist and engineers,” asserted Marlon in an interview.Continue reading...

Sara D. Smith, B.A.
ACE Academy Coordinator

Ms. Smith’s parents were Freedom Fighters for justice; as their daughter, she is attracted to the power of history as she strives to preserve their legacy. Her mother oversaw a rigorous academic enrichment program in her home every summer to supplement the failing schools in her hometown, Leland, Mississippi. Ms. Smith continued her scholarly journey at Mississippi Delta Community College. There, as a freshman majoring in Political Science, she was chosen to attend an American Political Science Association conference, where she led a roundtable discussion on the process of truth and reconciliation in the American South.

Upon graduation, she was accepted to The University of Mississippi, where she majored in Political Science with an emphasis in African American Studies. She was Vice President of the Gospel Choir, which was nominated for a Grammy Award and received a regional Grammy in 2001. Sara’s commitment to her passion, African and African American Studies, compelled her to enroll at The University of Memphis after completing her degree. She wanted to major in her chosen field, and she didn’t feel she had enough exposure at The University of Mississippi. In the fall of 2005, Ms. Smith began work on an M.A. in History, focusing on African American and Minority Studies.

After finishing her Ph.D., she plans to research, write, and teach in order to remove the educational gaps so prevalent in her hometown and to assist others in transcending artificial limits and finding self-actualization through the discipline of History. She has a passion for African American Oral History and Folklore. In her free time she writes poetry and performs spoken word poetry. Sara Smith is bridging the gap between culture, history, and politics with intellectual diversity and understanding.

Rita L. Gibson-Dye, M.A.
ACE Academy Research Assistant

Ms. Gibson-Dye is a second-year law student at the University of Memphis, where her study is supported by two scholarships. She comes to the Hooks Institute from the Memphis Urban League, where she both coordinated professional development programs and engaged in fund raising. Born and raised in Greenville, Mississippi, Rita earned her B.A. in Sociology and a Masters of Public Administration from Mississippi State University. She was inducted into the Honor Society, Pi Alpha Alpha. She envisions a future career trajectory that encompasses both practicing law and development work for non-profit organizations. Rita takes time out of her busy schedule to advocate for students in the ACE Academy because she believes “it is imperative that children have the opportunity to attain the skills that are necessary for them to succeed.” She has dedicated herself to the task of making ACE Academy “a self-sustaining educational institution that will inspire students, present and future, to develop detailed plans for their educational and professional futures.”

Travis O'Neal
Assistant to ACE Director

Travis Deshun O’Neal, an invaluable member of the ACE staff as assistant to Mr. Ogle, is majoring in architecture and minoring in education at the University of Memphis, where he is an incoming freshman. He is volunteering with Marlon Ridley, his mentor, to provide ACE Academy students with math education and ACT test prep skills. Travis graduated from Melrose High School, where he won awards for perfect attendance and for beating the odds. He also won church leadership awards from Mt. Gilliam M.B. Church. Mr. O’Neal’s goal is to become a scientific engineer and to excel in all of his chosen fields. He is willing to give up precious hours on Saturdays in order to "help kids so that they can receive what they aren’t receiving either at home or school." Ace Academy, in Travis’s view, can become a place where "students who put forth an effort succeed in spite of their situation."

Barbara Bekis, Ed.D
ACE Academy Resource Specialist

Dr. Barbara J. Keeling Bekis is serving as the Resource Person for the ACE Academy, 2006-2007. She is also the Coordinator of the Education Support Program, Supervisor for Supplemental Instruction, and Supervisor for ESP Tutor Core. Dr. Bekis has been with the University of Memphis since 1982. She earned her Ed.D with a concentration in Curriculum and Instruction Design from The University of Memphis and built on this training with teaching experiences in junior and senior high school, college, continuing education and at the University. In 2004, Dr. Bekis was awarded the Martin Luther King, Jr. Human Rights Award because her life represents the ideals and morals to which Dr. King dedicated his life.

Additional Links:
Hooks Teaching Fellows
Frances Dancy Hooks Mentors
Cooperating Professors of Pedagogy
Writing Specialists