photo by steed media service

The first chapter of Dr. Ralph L. Simpson’s book, Remedial to Remarkable, is appropriately entitled, “I Hate School.” As a youth growing up in Atlanta, the DeKalb County assistant superintendent and educator of 15 years says he was well on his way to becoming another statistic before he realized the value of education.

“Seeing so many African American males particularly, who had made some decisions ... [that] would affect them for the rest of their lives, I just decided ... [to] become part of the solution instead of part of the problem,” he says. An accomplished national motivational speaker, Simpson decided to commit his words of wisdom and past experiences to paper in hopes of reaching youngsters who were disengaged from the educational system. “There [are] a lot of kids out there that aren’t interested in school and that’s the audience that I wanted to capture, that’s the audience that I wanted to speak to, so when they see that and they’re reading [the book] they’re like, ‘Wow, this brother did all that and he didn’t like school?’ ” he says.

Simpson says it’s the story, not the individual, that makes his book more powerful than any speech he’s ever delivered. “And that’s all it is,” he says. “A classic blueprint and an example of someone who procrastinated, someone who was complacent, but someone that [at] some point in time realized that in order for me to be able to do what I want to do, I have to do what I need to do.” -marissa mitchell

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