Peck Family

Probably like with many of you, we have found that while our boy is a smart kid, and a good kid, he doesn't focus or stay on task.....and that was before COVID.

We made the decision to send our son to MMA because virtual learning was a disaster. He was coming away with nothing. At least as bad is that he was idle during the school day much more than we were comfortable with. He needed the face-to-face contact with teachers and with his peers so he could learn and grow. We have two  daughters, including Robbie's twin sister, but they are generally on task all the time.

We chose MMA to get our boy back into a structured environment where he could thrive, otherwise, this school year would have been a total loss. It has definitely been a change for Robbie and for our family, but we can already see signs that he is maturing into the man we know he can become.

Probably every other day my wife questions whether we made the right decision, but I assure her that we did. As I have told my son many times: "I love you to pieces, but I am not your friend, I am your dad, and my job is to help you grow into a man." I am still sad when I look into his empty room, but I know he will be back in it for the holidays.

He has had a bit of homesickness here and there, but overall he's doing really well, and we assure him how proud we are of the progress he is making. We love the calls home, and we take the call regardless of where we are and what we are doing. We find that he doesn't always even want to talk as much as he wants to know we are on the other end of the phone. He's making friends and having fun, but he's also getting the discipline and the structure that he needs and that will hopefully follow him for the rest of his life.

We can't wait to see him over the holidays. My wife says that she is going to put a couple of tissues in her pocket for when she sees him because she knows she's going to need them.

– Ray Peck, MMA Father of Cadet Robbie Peck, 8th grade.

Hometown: Indianapolis, IN.