2 Former Excel Charter Academy Students Return to Teach at 'Best Place Ever'

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., May 10, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- In celebration of National Charter Schools Week, we look to Excel Charter Academy, the first charter school opened by National Heritage Academies (NHA) in Grand Rapids, Mich. Since 1995 the staff have shaped the dreams of thousands of scholars – two of whom, Carly Hourani and Hannah Jung, were drawn to return and help transform the lives of its next generation of students.

Hourani has taught at Excel for five years and just moved from teaching sixth to eighth grade this school year. Jung is in her first year as a full-time teacher with first-graders.

"I loved it as a student," Hourani said of her time at Excel. "I think sometimes you romanticize things, but I look back at my time here and I always just feel warm and fuzzy.

"I remember always wanting to go to school, and I don't think kids feel that all the time; I just attribute it to the environment and to our teachers. I felt like the teachers really cared."

That's a theme the staff at Excel takes great pride in, Executive Principal Dan Bartels said.

"Carly and Hannah have the mindset that our school should be one where students can thrive because of our commitment to both moral focus and academic excellence," Bartels said. "They are also of the belief that each student is valuable and that school should be a place where students feel safe and supported and learn to love learning."

Where to teach?

Jung said she struggled while searching for the right teaching job last year. After subbing at schools in Lansing and Grand Rapids, she realized her challenge: She was comparing them all to Excel.

"I think the biggest thing for me as a student and a teacher is the diversity within the students," Jung said. "That was super important for me. Growing up I realized how important that is.

"Excel is super diverse and I think being exposed to that, with so many friends coming from different backgrounds, that kind of helped me form how I live life."

Striving to Excel

The goal for both Hourani and Jung is to become the type of teachers from whom they learned so much during their time at Excel. Hourani was able to pinpoint those admirable traits.

"I want kids to leave here knowing that somebody loved them," she said. "I want them to know that somebody is going to connect and be there for them. Making those connections is so huge. It's such a vulnerable time in their lives, you have way more power than you know to influence and love."

Excel Charter Academy is part of NHA, a charter school management company in Grand Rapids, Mich. with 98 tuition-free, public charter schools across nine states, serving more than 60,000 students in kindergarten through 12th grade.

SOURCE National Heritage Academies