Podcast Summary: The Dr. Laura Podcast

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

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.

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)

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]

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.

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.