Education Should Be On Your Mind

Summary

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Podcast Summary: The Dr. Laura Podcast

Episode: Education Should Be On Your Mind
Host: Dr. Laura Schlessinger
Date: December 11, 2025

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Overview

In this episode, Dr. Laura zeroes in on the critical role of education in shaping individuals and society, using as inspiration Pastor Cory Brooks' recent reflections on educational standards and their impact on communities, especially in underserved areas. The episode is both a call to action and an exploration of successful educational models, focusing on how intentional, values-driven approaches can help children develop character, self-respect, and purpose.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Pastor Cory Brooks’ Reflection on Education

[02:40-11:00]

• Dr. Laura shares and reads an article by Pastor Cory Brooks, highlighting Brooks’ personal mission to combat the decline in educational standards and its devastating effects on Black communities, especially those on Chicago's South Side.
• Brooks’ observations come during his walk across America, where he visited two North Carolina schools: Iron Academy (for boys) and Academy 31 (for girls).
• He notes the importance of education as the springboard for a successful life in America, especially for marginalized communities.

Iron Academy: Cultivating Biblical Manhood

• Mission: Develop “young men of biblical manhood and integrity.”
• Small class sizes (15:1), teachers personally knowing students.
• Each student must lead an initiative as part of the curriculum.
• Heavy focus not just on academics, but on public speaking, physical training, and manual skills, all grounded in scriptural principles.
• Outcomes:
  • Notable improvements in grades, attitudes, and sense of responsibility.
  • Reported average 9-point IQ increase after the first year.

Academy 31: Empowering Girls in Stability and Self-Worth

• Girls display “quiet confidence,” modeled after Proverbs 31: “smart, capable, kind, and fearless.”
• Curriculum includes Latin, logic, literature, practical skills (cooking, finances, business basics).
• Strong mentorship culture: older students guide and discipline younger ones.
• School culture fosters mutual respect, rejecting outside definitions of worth in favor of spiritual and personal growth.

Gender-Distinct, Values-Based Education

• The success of both schools is partly attributed to their single-gender, values-focused approach.
• “There were no co-ed chaos, no watering down of standards or behavior to keep everybody comfortable. Boys get to be boys and…girls get to be girls.”
  (Cory Brooks via Dr. Laura, 08:27)
• Growth is key: time and space for kids to become their authentic selves, within a framework of mutual respect and rootedness.

The Broader Lesson & Call to Action

• Brooks contrasts the thriving environments in North Carolina with the struggles he sees in Chicago: “Fatherless boys…looking hard because nobody ever showed them how to be strong the right way. Girls raising babies while they are still babies themselves.”
• Criticizes failed policies that treat only the symptoms rather than building character and community from the ground up.
• Brooks plans to launch two similar schools in Chicago under Project HOOD: one for boys, one for girls, committed to “reading, writing, arithmetic…character, courage and Christ.”
• “We need places where boys become men and girls become women. Separate when it helps them grow, together when it teaches them honor.”
  (Cory Brooks via Dr. Laura, 10:35)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Responsibility in Education:
  “I’m so used to stressing responsibility to my own youth that it is sometimes startling when I see it ingrained in a child... These kids understood the purpose of school was to go home each day having learned something of consequence.”
  — Cory Brooks via Dr. Laura, [04:00]

• On Transformation through Intentional Schooling:
  “Grades jump, attitudes straighten. Young men start acting like somebody’s counting on them. Because somebody is.”
  — Cory Brooks via Dr. Laura, [05:02]

• On Girls’ Education & Self-Definition:
  “The school felt like a house full of sisters who decided the world doesn’t get to tell them who they are. God already did.”
  — Cory Brooks via Dr. Laura, [08:27]

• On the Blueprint for Change:
  “North Carolina already has the blueprint… Iron Academy and Academy 31 are proving it works, one young man and one young woman at a time.”
  — Cory Brooks via Dr. Laura, [10:50]

• On What’s Needed:
  “We don’t need another government report or celebrity PSA. We need places where boys become men and girls become women. Separate when it helps them grow, together when it teaches them honor.”
  — Cory Brooks via Dr. Laura, [10:35]

• Dr. Laura’s Affirmation:
  “Help boys become men and girls become women with honor and mutual respect. We don’t much have that, frankly, in any race that I can see in our culture.”
  — Dr. Laura, [12:03]

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Important Segment Timestamps

• [02:40] Introduction to Cory Brooks’ article and reflections on American education.
• [03:30] Description of Iron Academy’s model and impact.
• [08:02] Observations on Academy 31’s approach and school culture.
• [10:35] Brooks articulates the “blueprint” for transforming youth through schooling.
• [11:09] Dr. Laura introduces Cory Brooks’ background and Project HOOD.
• [12:03-12:46] Dr. Laura’s direct call to listeners: be part of the solution by helping young people develop honor and respect.

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Conclusion

Dr. Laura's episode is a stirring examination of the state of American education, advocating for intentional, values-led approaches that prioritize character and foundational skills. Drawing on the tangible successes of Iron Academy and Academy 31, the episode urges listeners to support or initiate similar efforts—grounded in mentorship, gender-specific growth, and moral clarity—to truly empower the next generation.

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Transcript

[Dr. Laura Schlessinger]

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It's fabulous. Listen up, he writes. Education has been on my mind a lot lately As I continue my walk across America through the gentle hills of North Carolina. Part of why I'm doing this walk is that I have seen how the lowering of education standards over the last 60 years have devastated black communities such as the one I live in on the south side of Chicago. Without a proper education, one cannot go far in life in America. It's my ambition to reverse this insidious and life sucking trend everywhere in America. And when I reached the city of Raleigh, I decided to visit two schools I heard were successful. The school for the boys is called Iron Academy. The girls school is called Academy 31. They both sit on the same campus, separate buildings, and their mission is the same. Raise kids the way God designed for them. Strong in faith and ready for life. When I walked into Iron Academy, the boys looked me in the eye and shook my hand like men. They talked about responsibility like it was normal. I'm so used to stressing responsibility to my own youth that it is sometimes startling when I see it ingrained in a child. All of these kids were regular boys who understood that the purpose of school was to go home each day having learned something of consequence. The small classes, 15 to 1 ratio, were led by Christian teachers who actually knew each student's name. Their mission is to develop young men of biblical manhood and integrity. Each student is required to lead an initiative of some sort and that is core to the program. In addition to the books, there is a heavy emphasis on physical training, public speaking, working with their hands, and using scripture as the guiding foundation. The results show improvement. Grades jump, attitudes straighten. Young men start acting like somebody's counting on them. Because somebody is. Each year Iron Academy publishes outcome data that shows an average 9 point IQ increase after the first year of enrollment.

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[Dr. Laura Schlessinger]

Then I walked the path across the campus to Academy 31. The vibe in the air was different and the strength and conviction were the same. The girls greeted me with quiet confidence. They resembled Proverb 31. Woman, smart, capable, kind and fearless.

I saw these girls studying Latin, logic and literature right alongside cooking, finances and how to run a home or how to run a business. They were surrounded by mentors who were the older students disciplining the younger ones. The school felt like a house full of sisters who decided the world doesn't get to tell them who they are. God already did. What I loved about these two North Carolina schools was that there were no co ed chaos, no watering down of standards or behavior to keep everybody comfortable. Boys get to be boys and figure out what it means to strive for biblical manhood without apology. Girls get to be girls and grow into biblical womanhood without competition. Growth is the key word here. Both the boys and girls are given the time and space to grow into their own selves and that allows their roots to grow strong and firm. And because the schools sit right next to each other, the boys learn to respect the girls and the girls learn to respect the boys the old fashioned way. It still works. I stood there on the campus thinking about the kids back on the south side of Chicago. Fatherless boys wandering the block looking hard because nobody ever showed them how to be strong the right way. Girls raising babies why they are still babies themselves because nobody taught them their worth. We keep throwing money at programs that treat symptoms and wonder why nothing changes. And this is the answer I've been praying for. We don't need another government report or celebrity psa. We need places where boys become men and girls become women. Separate when it helps them grow together. When it teaches them honor. North Carolina already has the blueprint iron academy. In academy 31 are proving it works. One young man and one young woman at a time. When I get back to Chicago, Project Hood H o o D is starting two schools of our own. One for boys, one for girls. Small at the Biblical foundation. No excuses, no shortcuts. We'll teach reading, writing, arithmetic. But more than that, we'll teach character, courage and Christ.

Because strong boys and strong girls don't just happen.

Somebody has to build them on purpose.

All right, this Cory Brooks is a pastor known as the Rooftop Pastor, is the founder and senior pastor of New Beginnings Church of Chicago and the CEO of Project Hood. Helping others obtain the destiny H o o d the church local mission. He gained national attention.

For his 94 day and 343 day rooftop vigils to transform notorious O block, known as Chicago's most dangerous block, into Opportunity Block. So learn more at projecthood. Org I'm reading. I read this, every word. Hoping this would motivate some of you, Christian or not.

To do this sort of thing.

Help boys become men and girls become women with honor and mutual respect.

We don't much have that, frankly, in any race that I can see in our culture. My number 1-800-375-2872. If you like this podcast, be sure to rate it on Apple podcasts or your favorite place to listen to my podcast. Of course, I'd love if you gave me five stars. And be sure to share this podcast with a friend on Facebook or your preferred social media platform.

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