Bigham Knoll, Where Education is THE Family Value

Mel and Brooke Ashland

JR: Most of my readers are familiar with your commitment to historic preservation and the five-year, multi-million dollar renovation of the Old School property. I believe most of them also know you (Brooke) are CEO of the Cutler Investment Group, an investment management firm, and you (Mel) are the Managing Partner of  Ashland Partners, a global accounting practice. Both firms are located in the Old School House, right?

M: Right. The Old School was the perfect venue for both of our financial services firms. We had been looking for a location that would suit our needs and the Old School campus became available. Brooke was in the driver’s seat on this project. Today, our two firms alone employ over 50 people at the Campus. Ashland Partners works with financial institutions around the globe.  We do audit work for some of the biggest financial institutions in the world.  We have over 800 clients in almost every state in the US, as well as in Europe, South America, and Asia.  We are constantly learning, and the campus atmosphere is very conducive to studying.

B: Cutler also works in a global environment.  Our portfolio managers must know how world events impact our clients’ stock portfolios and how all markets correlate.  Both companies hire dynamic, highly-educated people, most of whom are bilingual. Since today’s talented professional wants a life/work/family balance, living and working in Jacksonville is a great option for many of them.

JR: I’m curious why I see so many kids on the Bigham Knoll campus and why every room seems to have trucks or trains in the windows!

M: Brooke and I have 6 children. Their educations consumed a major portion of our lives…and financial resources. We had all 6 in college at one time, and counting graduate schools, we have 10 alma maters! You might say that “education” is our family value.

B: Looking back, it’s amazing how our children’s college experiences have influenced the development of the Bigham Knoll campus. When our son Erich Patten was accepted to the University of Pennsylvania, we asked him to look over his freshman class and find the common denominator for admissions acceptance.  His observation was that a majority had studied music, a second language, and of course had high SAT scores.  Our focus on enrichment programs at Bigham Knoll grew from there and is an extension of that model: We offer foreign languages, music appreciation and early age reading programs.

M: Brooke is a passionate educator.  She is a visionary. She calls Bigham Knoll her “God Project,” and feels she was called to the property to bring programs to children to help them succeed in a globally-oriented world. The first business license we obtained for the Campus was for the preschool, which now occupies its own building.

B: You know I celebrated my 60th birthday last year at Disneyland because I couldn’t think of a happier place on earth to have a party!  It’s a place where dreams come true.  Jacksonville is too. But for the children of Jacksonville, their “Tomorrow-land” is already here.  As a community, we must recognize this and help them prepare.  I believe that with engaged parents and enrichment programs, we can make the parents’ dreams for their children a reality. For me, this starts with early-enrichment education.

JR: It sounds as if you “get” what’s going on internationally in business and in education?

B: Well, no one has it 100% figured out, but we can certainly draw some conclusions of our own.  If you’re following the “parenting wars” in the WSJ or the NY Times, you know that the battle for the best parenting methodology is down to the “Chinese Tiger Moms” who push acceleration and produce early results, and the “French Moms” who sip lattes with their toddlers and don’t stress about getting them to school on time. In short, the Chinese parents fit into their children’s’ schedules and the French children fit into their parents’ schedules!

JR: So what kind of parents do we have here in Jacksonville?

B: As the Director of the Little Pioneers School House and the Bigham Knoll Enrichment Center, I have firsthand exposure to over 150 local families and their children. The truth is, our parents are awesome, our teachers are awesome and our kids are awesome!  The NY Times was of course stereotyping with the “Parenting Wars,” but I would agree that we have a blend of the Chinese and French parenting styles and the results are beautiful. We would encourage members of the community to come see personally what we have going on.

JR: Tell me about the Little Pioneers Pre-School.

B: We believe in a play-based philosophy with a theme-driven curriculum that leads kids to explore their environment. Children are natural learners, whose curiosity helps choreograph the curriculum. Since children learn primarily through doing, our goal is to provide opportunities that spark emotional, social and cognitive growth.

JR: What teachers do you employ?

B: When I put the school together in 2007, I consulted three of my favorite Jacksonville educators – Larry Smith, Elaine Reissinger and Debbi Sharp. All of them taught our kids at J’Ville Elementary and I respect each of them. Elaine introduced me to her soon to be granddaughter-in-law, Brittan.  “Miss Britt” (Zimmerman) as she’s known, has a BA in Early Age Education from SOU. I hired her as our Head Teacher and Co-Director. Her parents are both educators as well, so teaching is in her DNA. I think it’s special that she’s carrying on the family tradition. We have a total of seven teachers in our programs during the school year, and of course, many more in the summer.

JR: I understand you also offer after-school enrichment programs and just geared-up your foreign language program.

B: Yes, in a big way. Starting this April, Jacksonville is the 80th community to open a “Lango” language center and will be teaching foreign languages to kids. We are starting with Spanish and Mandarin, but we can also offer French if the need is there. Think about the success of the Go Diego and Dora series.  Kids love adventures and singing and rhythm.  The Lango method follows a lot of these teaching strategies. Children are hard-wired to learn a language.  We want to help them learn before that window closes.

M: Brooke and I were in Hong Kong in January and the lead article of the Sunday paper was on the importance of Asian children learning English in order to remain competitive!  Well I say what’s good for the goose is good for the gander, and American children need to learn Mandarin and or Spanish as well. Many of Jacksonville’s children will want to compete for the careers of their choosing, and empowering them with these tools at an early age is important. Rogue Valley Lango opened their doors this April for kids ages 3-8. If interested, please call 541-842-8485 or visit their site:  www.roguevalleylango.com

JR: In addition to language, you mentioned you are both passionate about music and reading.

B: For 100 years, music played a major role at the Old School. But faced with financial shortfalls, our schools have eliminated many subjects like music that were once deemed important to a well-rounded education. We are really excited that the Britt Institute is partnering with us to bring music appreciation programs to our campus.  We will begin this summer with a series of 45 minute “camps” offered in one week blocks.  We are still in development, so stay-tuned! We will once again offer our summer classes that will introduce kids to the “Instruments of the Orchestra.”  We tie it all in to what’s happening at the Britt Classical Festival. Cutler Investment Group is this year’s corporate sponsor of the Britt Classical season, and they are also underwriting these camps for us.

JR: You mentioned the Chinese vs. French Moms debate. What’s your theory on teaching kids to read?

B: Everyone has an opinion about how to teach reading – mine is phonics, phonics, phonics!  There’s more to reading than learning the letters of the alphabet and children need to know the various sound choices each letters makes.   The “sight” learning methodology enables children to memorize a word, but not necessarily know what the sound components are going into the pronunciation. Kids learn to memorize words quickly, but they stumble later in life when their vocabulary is expanded, or they attempt to learn a foreign language and they can’t simply “sound it out.”   We are utilizing the Distar Reading Program and teach children the joy of reading through learning a classic phonetic system. We offer our reading programs before both PM and AM kindergarten. We also offer the program to preschoolers who are chomping at the bit to learn to read!

JR:  What does the future hold?

M: The buildings are ready for another 100 years. It is our wish that our programs and businesses we bring to the Campus will honor those who came before us.

NOTE: Click here for a list of the Summer Camps being offered by Bigham Knoll!