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ALUM Spotlight Wade Pearce '88

Wade Pearce is the Director of Education at Eagle Ranch, a Christ-centered home for boys and girls in crisis and in need of hope and healing. Eagle Ranch, located in Chestnut Mountain, Georgia (north of Atlanta) has provided a home for over 400 children since its inception twenty years ago. Eagle Ranch was founded by Auburn alum Eddie Staub '78 and his story is told in the book On Eagle's Wings which was featured in the Auburn Magazine Winter 2005 issue. Wade was nominated for the Alumni Spotlight by his former foster son Steven Bryant who was a Georgia fan until he lived with the Pearces. Now he loves everything Auburn!

Q. What is the background of Eagle Ranch?

A. Eagle Ranch provides a Christ-centered home for children aged 6-18 who are in need of a stronger family support system. Our goal is the spiritual, intellectual, emotional, social and physical development of our children and the eventual reunification with their natural families whenever possible.

Work first began on the Ranch in 1982, and the first boy was accepted in 1985. Our current capacity is fifty-four children (forty-two boys and twelve girls), making us the largest children's home in north Georgia.

Eagle Ranch is dedicated to modeling a Christ-centered family for the children entrusted to us. A committed Christian couple lives in each of the homes with the boys or girls providing the love and structure that they need. Meals are cooked in the homes to facilitate a family-type atmosphere. The houseparents and the children in their home participate in family activities such as daily devotions, regular worship services, weekend recreational activities and summer vacations.

The children's parents play an integral role in the Eagle Ranch program. Our Ranch children go home every other weekend and for holiday and school vacations. Our program is geared to promote and encourage healing in all family relationships by helping family members learn new communication skills.

In the summer of 1998, the Board of Directors conducted a feasibility study, garnering input from professionals in the educational field as to how to best meet our children's educational needs and close their academic deficits. The results of this study directed us to develop an on-campus school for Eagle Ranch children in grades 1-9.

In the fall of 2001, the Eagle Ranch School was founded. The Eagle Ranch School for grades 6-8 is focused on preparing students for their future. Most of our children come to the Ranch at least two grade levels behind. Their experience in school has typically been poor and they have many academic deficits that must be addressed.

Q. What is a typical day for you like at Eagle Ranch?

A. My day begins with singing a few praise and worship songs with the students and faculty. I then teach a short Bible lesson to the kids before they go to Math, Language Arts, History and Science. Our Bible class is based upon Scripture memory and application. I try to teach the kids memory techniques that will benefit them during their academic career. After all, high school and college is where our memories are most utilized. Once out of school we can just look the answers up! Throughout the day, I may deal with discipline issues that arise with students or meet with our counselors to discuss current residents or candidates for placement at Eagle Ranch. Once a week I go over to the local high school to meet with teachers about the behavior and academics of our 15 residents who attend Flowery Branch High School. I often meet with potential donors to raise funds needed for construction and operational expenses. A large part of my job also consists of maintaining donor relationships. We are in the process of procuring the final funds to complete our school fundraising campaign. So I may talk to our contractor a couple of times a day as we are hoping to break ground this summer. Eagle Ranch is debt free so we always raise all of the funds before we start construction of a new building. Lastly, I may spend time meeting with the teachers and Para –pros to discuss different students and/or programmatic issues.

Q. What is the best part of your job? the toughest?

A. There are so many great things about this job for me. You would be hard pressed to find someone who enjoyed their job more! With that said, the best part of my job is seeing the change that occurs in children and their families during their season at Eagle Ranch. As an educator, having worked in both public and private settings, I have never seen children experience the kind of spiritual, emotional and academic progress that I have witnessed here. It is a joy to be a part of a program that is truly meeting the needs of children and their families. Working with children and families in crisis is an incredible privilege. We are able to build community in this school like nowhere else I have ever been. Students are able to form bonds quickly with one another due to their common backgrounds, while striving to make positive changes in their lives. We work hard to shore up the students academic deficits, but we also have a lot of fun with the kids. One of the most effective tools we use is a money management system that allows the students to earn “Ranch dollars” based on behavior and school performance. Money earned is used to pay for special school field trips (CNN, World of Coke, Unicoi State Park, Turner Field, Atlanta History Museum, Alliance Theatre, Road Atlanta, etc.) and to bid on items offered in a quarterly school auction. The children have learned a lot about the benefits of saving money and the concept of supply and demand. Activities like the auctions and school trips give the staff and students opportunities to build relationships outside the classroom. Another great part of the job is seeing kids enjoy our exploratory classes like horsemanship, video production, cooking, mountain biking, outdoor skills, t-shirt design and journalism. To sum up, my greatest joy comes from designing and implementing a program that truly helps children make lasting change in their lives.

The toughest part of my job is seeing children disrupt their placement or get pulled out of the program by their parents before they are ready to graduate.

Q. Did Auburn prepare you well for your career as head master?

A. Auburn prepared me well for my job as a classroom teacher. I will always treasure the time I spent at Auburn. I was able to develop lifelong friendships and thoroughly enjoyed campus life. As far as being prepared to be the Director of Education at Eagle Ranch, I would have to say it has taken all of my experience as an educator and relying on Christ's strength to tackle this job!