CHARLESTON, W.Va. –More than 200 middle school teachers and administrators from across West Virginia will travel to Atlanta this summer to experience the Ron Clark Academy as part of Huntington Bank’s 2026 Ignite the Classroom program.
The educators, who were surprised with the opportunity at the Clay Center in Charleston Wednesday, represent 12 counties: Berkeley, Boone, Cabell, Grant, Greenbrier, Hardy, Jefferson, Kanawha, Mercer, Monongalia, Randolph, and Tucker.
A total of 250 educators will travel to the Ron Clark Academy, an internationally renowned nonprofit middle school known for academic excellence. Established in 2007, the academy was founded by educator, motivational speaker, and bestselling author Ron Clark and co-founder Kim Bearden.
Chad Prather, West Virginia region president for Huntington Bank, said the initiative was piloted in five cities, with West Virginia added last year, when 130 teachers across the state participated.
Prather said it is rewarding for the bank to see teachers participate in the program and begin implementing what they learn in their classrooms and schools.
“To have them have the opportunity to spend time with Ron and his team and ultimately bring that back to West Virginia classrooms which ultimately helps our kids, is a joy, it’s a privilege for us to do it, helping our communities thrive is part of the core mission of Huntington and we’re happy to do it,” he said.
During the July 23-25 visit, educators will observe the academy’s unique teaching philosophy and best practices firsthand.
Kizmet Chandler, assistant principal at South Charleston Middle School, and Carolyn DeBord, a teacher at the school, were part of the first cohort in 2025 and attended Wednesday’s event to support this year’s participants.
Chandler said that after three days in Atlanta last year, they were eager to return and begin implementing what they learned on day one, including the house system.
“With our staff that went with us that were co-hort one, we planned our back-to-school event to introduce the house system to our teachers, and we even to them down to the little public park right down from our school and they got to experience the slide themselves as they drew their name into what house they were going to become,” she said.
DeBord said she has been able to incorporate engaging games into her lessons.
She said implementing these games has encouraged students to participate and to help their peers engage as well.
“The kids are very encouraging of one another, even if you don’t get to participate or somebody is to try to participate, we’ve been able to have them encourage each other, every student from learning disabled to learning disorders, everyone in the school participates and becomes one together,” DeBord said.
Chandler said it was an amazing experience to be part of, thanks to Huntington Bank.
“Amazing experience, it’s really one of the best professional developments that I’ve been to as a teacher and administrator, and the way that Huntington Bank just loves on everyone is amazing because we don’t get treated like that,” she said.
DeBord agreed and said it will be exciting to watch other educators experience the Ron Clark Academy.
“Just to be able to be a part of that again and watch and experience Ron Clark again and to know that other people are going to experience what we experienced last year and be able to bring that excitement back to their classroom is amazing,” she said.
Prather said community partners play a key role in making the program possible.
“To have the partnerships that we have in the community, with the foundations, the corporations that have supported, allowed us to send much more teachers than we could have otherwise,” he said. “We were very blessed to have the Hazel Ruby McQuain Charitable Trust match all those donations, so we were actually able to double the number we send which is huge.”