Former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and pediatric neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson and his wife, Candy Carson, joined Indianapolis’ community leaders for an education roundtable discussion last week.
Moderated by City-County Council president Vop Osili, the roundtable, which took place at the Shepherd Community Center on April 16, featured discussions centered around community priorities and educational initiatives. Carson emphasized the need for better education systems, including school choice, but encouraged self-reliance, integrating education-based research and having strong role models in the home to help supplement classroom learning.
“I’ve seen a lot of schools that cater to the people who come from the Title I type neighborhood where the emphasis has truly been on education, not on social issues — which I think are better handled at home and through the church — and let the school really concentrate on making that person a viable candidate for anything,” Carson said.
Carson, who served as HUD secretary during President Donald Trump’s first term, said his vision for the future of literacy and access to reading materials in America also stems from the idea of a traditional nuclear family, which he suggests “provides substance for the great development of the child.”
Learning is a lifelong process, and Candy Carson said getting children engaged early, such as reading with a child at home from birth to age three, is imperative to improving literacy. The Ben Carson Reading Project — which provides funding to schools to create engaging and interactive spaces for children to develop their reading skills — aims to create safe environments where children not only have access to reading materials but can choose their own reading adventures.
“The fact that reading changed my life completely, we decided to start putting these rooms in … they’re places where no kid is gonna pass it up because the way that they’re decorated,” Carson said in an interview with the Recorder. “In many cases, they get points for the books they read, which they can trade in for prizes, which attracts them in the beginning, but after they learn how to read, they just enjoy the reading itself, and usually their grades improve tremendously as they become readers.”
More than $4 million has been invested in the program, which has funded the creation of more than 300 reading rooms across 24 states and the purchase of more than 150,000 books thus far. Carson and his wife just unveiled the 300th Ben Carson Reading Room on March 26 with plans to continue expanding.
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“It was just wonderful to have the whole community come out,” Candy Carson said. “It’s amazing that people come out to read to them … all these foundations coming together and trying to make a difference in the kids’ lives, because the kids are our future.”
The Ben Carson reading rooms are part of a three-part strategy, which includes learning to read, reading to learn, and learning to lead, said Cordell Carter, CEO of the Carson Scholars Fund.
The Carson Scholars Fund, which has been operating for the last 30 years, has seen nearly 12,200 scholars.
“These young people have a 98% four-year college graduation rate. That is by leaps and bounds higher than the national average. Even among our best universities, no one is finishing four years 98% of the time,” Carter said. “Well, what if that number was 25,000 and what if those kids were coming from Title I neighborhoods? I think we would see a massive positive change in this world, and that’s what we’re aiming to do, working right here in places like the Shepherd Center.”
Yves Mombeleur, a board member for Carson Scholars Fund, echoed a similar sentiment and said there needs to be a more concerted effort in funding reading programs and increasing access to reading materials.
“I think we need to just get back to basics,” Mombeleur said. “We all understand and support the need to read, but we’ve deviated because we’re so focused on making sure that students read the right thing based on our individual perspectives, as opposed to just reading. Let kids read, let them get engaged so they can learn to think. When they learn to think, they can learn to think critically and then let them make the judgment what they’ll choose to read later.”
For more information about the Carson Scholars Fund or Ben Carson Reading Project, visit www.carsonscholars.org.
Contact Arts & Culture Reporter Chloe McGowan at 317-762-7848. Follow her on X @chloe_mcgowanxx.
Chloe McGowan is the Arts & Culture Reporter for the Indianapolis Recorder Newspaper. Originally from Columbus, OH, Chloe graduated with a degree in journalism from The Ohio State University. She is a former IndyStar Pulliam Fellow, and her previous work includes freelancing for Indy Maven, Assistant Arts & Life Editor for The Lantern, and editorial assistant at CityScene Media Group. Chloe enjoys covering all things arts and culture — from local music, visual art, dance, theater and film, as well as minority-owned businesses. In her free time, Chloe enjoys reading, cooking and keeping her plants alive.
