BALTIMORE (WJZ) ―With the help of Ravens player Ray Rice, hundreds of Baltimore students now think school is cool.

Dance contests were just part of the festivities to engage kids from four Baltimore area middle schools to get inspired. It was all organized by City ACES: Athletes Changing Expectations. City ACES travels to middle schools around the country, inspiring kids through the words of athletes and entertainers.

Ravens running back Ray Rice was a speaker who told kids to commit to education.

“Just stay positive and live your dream. You’ll go through obstacles in your life. If you keep your head forward and face adversity, you can do something positive,” Rice said.

And kids listened.

“He grew up in the projects and people told him he wouldn’t be nothing in life, but he stuck to what he wanted to be in life,” said Lindele Carrington, a seventh grader at Northeast Middle School.

Miss Black USA Shayna Rudd shared how her dad was a drug addict.

“Not only have I made it beyond what I thought, I am trying to encourage young people like you to get to the same place,” Rudd said.

Again, kids listened.

“She inspired me to just not stop at ‘America’s Next Top Model,’ not to stop at Miss Universe, but be the best I can be,” said Shanel Hamilton, a sixth grader at Northeast Middle School.

City ACES hopes kids will dream big.

“I was empowering them to know they are curse-breakers. Just because their family has gone through certain things, it doesn’t mean they have to go through the same thing,” Rudd said.

“It made me think if they did what they did to fulfill their dreams, that means I can fulfill my dream, too,” Hamilton said.

City ACES also has a mentoring program. In the last two months, they have found mentors for more than 4,000 kids across the country.

Raymell “Ray” Rice was born on January 22, 1987 in New Rochelle, New York. Ray Rice is an American football running back for the Baltimore Ravens. Collegiately, Ray Rice played for Rutgers University. Ray Rice received All-America status from Rivals.com in 2007.

Part I: General Musings

I often wonder what draws us to sports. Why do we cling so desperately to every pitch, to every shot, to every tackle, and why are we such vociferous protagonists of our various teams of choice? Of course, part of our allegiance can be accounted through family traditions, civic pride (city, school, etc.), or even a particular person that may play for a given team at a given moment. However, most of our attachment to sport comes from the tacit forces at play behind the scenes. Sport in its purest form is a battle of wills, played out through the agency of human bodies. It’s a game of domination, made up of intellectual acumen, emotional endurance, physical prowess, and spiritual discipline. So, whenever we root for our various teams, we are really rooting for our team to display the highest order of these 4 dimensions, imposing their will on the other team, through the agency of physical vessels.

Through the act of competition, and players/teams pushing themselves to the limit, we in fact get to see what they are really made of inside. The competition leaves the aforementioned 4 elements bare for the entire world to see. You have no doubt heard the expression “Trials build character”? Well, in sports, “Trials REVEAL character”.

That’s why we love sports, and that is part of the reason I love City ACES. More directly, the stresses and strains required to coordinate each event routinely drudges up inner strength that I didn’t know I even possessed…until I had to call it up. In essence, it is helping me better understand myself, because the trials “reveal” what I am truly made of.

Despite my deep abiding fears and apprehension before each show, I try to live courageously as it pertains to City ACES. I am reminded daily that “courage is not the absence of fear, but the strength to do what is right in the face of that fear”. So yes, I do get nervous (extremely nervous in fact)…but no, my team and I cannot stop, and WE WILL NOT FAIL.

Part II: The Heart of the Matter

“We will never have this moment again”. Those are the words that ring in my head before every City ACES show, and to be honest with you, it shakes me to my core. “We will never have this moment again”. Perhaps the phrase is a misnomer, because the show (as with life) is nothing more than a series of moments in time, but for an hour and a half, these “moments” that City ACES share with the kids can plant the seeds that could make the difference in a child’s life, FOREVER. Ponder that for a minute, and then you will begin to understand the huge weight and anxiety that befalls the entire crew the week leading up to an event, and the exhaustion that sets in for days after. Words sometimes are more than just words, and some moments hold the echo and weight of eternity within them. Some of you may think I’m being a little too dramatic, but then again, you have never attended a City ACES event.

Middle School children–That’s the age group we target, because that is where the light of hope begins to dim, and where any intervention will have the greatest impact, because if your upbringing was anything like mine, High School was too late. Some may mistakenly take the whole City ACES movement as a gimmick, utilizing high profile individuals to put on a “dog and pony” show, and then fade into the night. The short answer would be that that assessment is flat out wrong. The heart of what we do can be found in our City ACES Mentors Program (CAMP), which integrates entire schools into the mentoring network, matching each child with a responsible, and invested role model. Not one or two children, but upwards of 1,000 children at a time.

However, I’m not going to lie to you, the pep-rallies/assemblies are a huge part of what we do. Think of it as the energy that creates the inertia, or momentum, that kicks off the mentorship journey. These are the “moments in time” that will burn in their minds forever, serving as a mental marker, reminding them that education is serious, and there are people out there who are serious about them achieving academically.

Let the story begin…

Part III: The Show

So we step in the middle school on a wet dreary October morning. Of all days, this was the one where traffic in DC was backed up…at 6 am in the morning! I couldn’t help but believe this was a classic case of Murphy’s Law: The worst things happening at the worst possible time. We get to the school 30 minutes late, and I immediately begin fielding texts from all our guests stating that they were on the highway running late because of the aforementioned traffic. **Dear Lord, this CANNOT be happening…not today…** However, the show must go on, and preparations continue. If all else fails, I’ve got my dj, and I’ve got Leonce Crump with me. We’ll have to go to war on our own if it comes down to it.

We have about 30 minutes before the show kicks off, and I happen to look up just in time to see Shayna Rudd and her entourage walking in. You may know Shayna better by the title of Ms. Black America. As beautiful as she is in pictures, she’s even more beautiful in real life, as well as poised and sophisticated. Loved it! Almost there, just waiting on Lavar Arrington, along my boys Josh Gaines and Tyrell Sales to make it through traffic **Dear Lord, please, please, please let them make it on time**. Clock strikes 9:20, which means there’s 10 minutes to go time. Shadows darken the doorway, and it looks like the entire defensive line of your favorite football team just appeared, as Josh, Tyrell, and Lavar touch down in the auditorium. It was almost like a family reunion, because all of us from the initial City ACES event, waaay back in April, were back once again to go to war in DC. Relief!!

The crowd is building, and I’m hearing the excited chatter of kids as we creep towards the 9:30 mark. Time to bring it.

Lavar is the first one to take a chop at the log, letting the kids know the importance of dreaming big, and having a plan to execute that dream. He said it was never too early to dream, and no dream is out of reach. He also stressed the importance of teamwork, referring to the students, teachers, and administrators as being part of an overall squad, working together to assure the success of the students. Concluding his talk, he emphasized that students had an important role to play in this success, which requires them heeding authority, and trusting that the teachers and administrators cared about them and their wellbeing. Word to the wise.

Shayna is up next, and you will not believe the power that came forth from such a tiny, petite, vessel. You see, the thing you notice when you first meet Shayna is that she’s very regal and stately, and as such, I was expecting a conservative, ho hum speech…you know, one of those canned statements that pageant winners give, along the lines of “I want world peace…”. No, no, no! I could not have been any more wrong. This young lady brought it, and when I say brought it, I’m talking about me having to step out on stage with the DJ to make sure that I heard every word she said. It was like I was in Church, because the atmosphere was electric! She was going off on the false notions of beauty in the African American community, i.e, light skin, long hair, etc. This is THE REIGNING MS. BLACK AMERICA, reaffirming to these young ladies that they are all beautiful, and everything that may have befallen their families for generations, including dropping out of school, drug abuse, jail, etc, ended with them, right here, right now! Her refrain was: “It all ends WITH ME!!” Indeed it does. There are thousands of other kids who are in desperate need to hear her words.

A new and nice touch to our show occurred when we invited students to come onstage and explain why education was important to them. I am telling you, and have been telling you for a while now, that our children are not stupid or dumb, by any stretch of the imagination. The responses were so well thought out and articulated, that at one point I just burst out with a spontaneous exclamation of pride, which Tim and Leonce persistently teased me for as soon as the show was over. Hey, I’ve seen the future in these children, and based on what I saw, the future is bright, so please forgive me if I get a little happy!

Cornell, aka DJ Godfather, then proceeded to give his testimony on why education was important to him, and his life story about trials, tribulations, and redemption. A very real and poignant moment that the children needed to hear. DJ has lived the life, and has the scars to prove it. His beseeching words ring true to the kids because his story is not said in isolation. It echoed the warnings and exhortations delivered throughout the program, providing a real life embodiment of someone who chose to forsake the call of the streets, and live a responsible life of true meaning.

As usual Leonce closed us out. We used to call him the “Gentle Giant” in college, but I think I’m going to change his name to “Fine Wine”, because as we do show after show, he just keeps getting better and better. His speech (Dream Makers and Dream Breakers) covered the material he had used in previous cities, and is the impetus for the title of our tour, namely “The City ACES Dream Makers and Dream Breakers Tour: Why Education is key”. I told Leo afterwards that this was his strongest speech to date (bearing in mind that the other speeches had been great too!). The delivery, the placement, the message…I couldn’t have asked for a better lineup for DC.

Baltimore is next, but we will also be coming to a city near you soon, including: Chicago, NYC, Atlanta, LA, Oakland, Charlotte, Phoenix, Harrisburg, Oklahoma City, Dallas, and Houston.

First of all, thank you to everyone who has supported City ACES emotionally, prayerfully, financially, or any other “-lly” I may have left off. Thanks to everyone who I have connected with over the course of the journey, and offered encouragement via phone calls, emails, texts, or face-to-face.

Special thanks go out to the entire City ACES crew (Josh, Tyrell, Sarah, Devin, Tim, Cornell, Leonce, Yohance, David)…I’m humbled and proud to be in the battle with you all. This truly is a work of many, and without you guys, City ACES would be just another organization, with a fancy name, having no impact. I am acutely aware of it, and believe me, I don’t take it for granted!

To lay the scene on September 22nd, it should be understood that City ACES was coming to Philadelphia to kick of our 2009-2010, 10 city “Dream Makers and Dream Breakers” Tour, and Michael Vick was our keynote speaker. As such, the school was a media circus. I’m talking about a zoo.

Every news channel was there: ESPN, ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, WPVL…stations I had never even heard of. Vans and cameras everywhere.

Step up in the school at about 7:30 am to begin the setup. At about 8:30 BET (Black Entertainment Television) shows up, and I conduct a 20 minute interview on why I chose Mike to be a speaker at the school (Mike had called me, and wanted me in his documentary, following his comeback journey, airing on the aforementioned BET).

I finish the shoot with them, and there’s 15 minutes until go time. BET producer comes running up while I’m directing traffic… “Hurry, Mike is about to come in, and we need to get the shot of you two meeting before the show”. Hustle back to the room where they’re recording, and Mike shows up a few minutes later, for the meet and greet. Say hello to him and his fiancé, thank him for coming, remind him of the lives he’s about to change, and head back to the auditorium to tie up any loose ends. 10 minutes to go. I get dragged out by ESPN radio to talk about the program. Trying to remind everyone that the kids really are the focus of why we’re here. Vick is only a part of the production.

Five minutes until go time. Aaahh…music to my ears. Literally, music to my ears, as the DJ is playing all the jams, and the students are getting hype. Lovin’ the call and response: “PEPPER MIDDLE SCHOOL!! ARE Y’ALL IN THE BUILDING?! TALK TO ME!!” ….and the crowd goes wild. DJ announces “2 minutes until we roll”. I respond with: “I’m ready whenever you are”. Light’s, camera, action.

The room goes black, and we play the video of my friend Keion Morgan, asking “who’s next”? Another powerful video. Please watch below:

The kids are into it. The buzz is in the air for real. You just knew that this morning was going to be special. Keep in mind, the kids didn’t know Vick was in the building, or even coming. To say they got hype would be an understatement. In fact, if I put it in words I would just cheapen it. Watch for yourselves below:

Turn my swag oooonnnnnn….alriiiiiigght! Mike killed the speech, telling the kids to learn from his mistakes, and to take education seriously from day one. He went on to tell them to avoid those who consistently push you in directions that can only lead to trouble, and cling to those who are there to help. I’m really not doing his talk justice, but trust me, it was good.

Next, in honor of my childhood idol, we had a Michael Jackson dance off, and believe me, some of these kids have skills that I only have in limited supply.

Next up in the lineup is PHILADELPHIA’S NEXT DA!!! Mr. Seth Williams. Seth was such a patient guest, because we started a lot later than planned, and he is a busy man, in the heat of a campaign season. Yet, he waited for us. Mr. Williams, thanks again. He gave a stirring speech on how he studied hard as a kid, and sometimes got teased for it. Unfortunately, many of these same friends from years ago are dead or in jail. As Philadelphia’s DA, he told the kids “I only want to see you in court if you are a doctor, lawyer, teacher, engineer, and you are there to testify for someone else”. Strong words. If you’re in Philadelphia, this is the man you should vote for when the election rolls around.

High school marching band up next. Another excellent set, and then Miss Carlisha Williams takes the stage. I’m telling you right now, Carlisha is going to be a star someday. Maybe I should say “a bigger star”, because she has already been Ms. Black Oklahoma, and a contestant in Ms. Black America. She also leads her own nonprofit, Women Empowering Nations, but at my request agreed to speak at the City ACES show. She was arguably one of our best speakers, and spoke specifically to the girls in the audience about education and self worth. Her speech involved a student helper from the audience, and a $50 bill. The lesson was that whether a $50 was crisp, or it was crumpled and stepped on (as Carlisha did onstage to her $50), the value is still the same. The same is true of the students. All of them have value. All of them…VALUABLE. At the end of her presentation, she gave the $50 to her student helper, and the place exploded.

Leonce Crump, a mainstay of City ACES, closed us out with his talk on “Dream Makers and Dream Breakers”. The place is silent as he spoke. All eyes on him. To say he hit a homerun would be an understatement. That’s why Leo is the closer, because he comes in and delivers the knock out blow.
You know how you go to an event, and some speakers are good, others are so-so, and some are just plain terrible? Not so on September 22nd. ALL the speakers were on point, and each one led nicely into the next.

Our final act was presenting the essay contest winners.

We’ve got the oversized checks, we’ve the City ACES staff on stage, and we’ve got the principals of the school. I read over 1,000 essays the week before, and I just had to tell the entire school to give themselves a round of applause, because there were so many great responses. Unfortunately, I could only pick 3 winners.

We call out the third place winner, and I hear a scream as the young man jumps up. He’s besides him with joy, and the rest of the school seems genuinely happy for him. He comes up, and receives his $50 third place prize. Press corp is snapping away, just like the paparazzi. We call the second place winner, and the same response as he yells and comes sprinting to the stage. Cameras flashing. There’s an interesting dynamic at play, because these kids are fighting to keep their cool, calm composure, but at the same time, there is an intense burst of relief, pride, and energy that overflows when they have achieved. When they were on stage, they appeared to be on the verge of tears. I’m getting a little emotional just recalling.

We award the second place prize of $100. It’s time to announce the 1st place winner, and the choice was a no brainer. I’m serious, this girl is a genius. The way she wrote, and the way she captured and broke down complex ideas was astounding to me and the rest of the committee. She stated in her essay that she wanted to go to Yale and major in journalism and minor in performing arts. She also said that she would love to be an author and a poet, and it was easy to see, because reading her essay was like listening to smooth jazz. Amazing! If that wasn’t enough, she complained about the Mayor shutting down libraries and public swimming pools in the inner city! And SHE’S ONLY IN THE 6TH GRADE!!!!

So anyway, as I read her essay over the weekend, my mind had pictured a full fledged 5’5, 5’6, 5’7 young lady (I know that’s silly, but that’s how I had conceptualized her because I was so impressed by her writing). I call out her name, and I hear another shriek, and then this TINY little girl is in an all-out sprint to the stage. I’m talking tiny. I’m talking 3’5…4 feet tops. As she comes running up the stage steps, I just instinctively stretch open my arms to hug her. She clung to me like I was a parent who she would never see again. I mean, she hugged me so hard, and wouldn’t let go. The entire auditorium by now was on their feet screaming and clapping. More pictures, and the girl is looking like she’s going to burst from all the emotion, as her principal, Ms. Yolanda Armstrong, winks at her and beams with pride.

I give the final thanks, and the DJ ends the program by looping part of the Drake “Successful” song…I know you’ve heard it, “I just wanna be, I just wanna be successful…I just wanna be, I just wanna be successful”. Looped those lines over and over. Those were the last words that were ringing in those kids ears as the show ended. But they DIDN’T want to leave! I turn to the left and see a crowd of young men swarming the male speakers, then I turn to the right, and I see a crowd of girls swarming Carlisha. Those kids didn’t want the moment to end, but alas, the principal eventually had to herd them off to lunch as Drake played on. “I just wanna be, I just wanna be successful…I just wanna be, I just wanna be successful…”

Beautiful!

Some of you ask me, why I don’t simply pursue the money, live life as a baller, and retire early. Well, I will, as soon as you can put a price on the emotion and feeling that I had at that moment, and really throughout the show, knowing that lives had forever been changed. For me, those moments can never be bought, and as I said in an earlier post, I feel close to God as the show unfolds, and I see the vision and the dream crystallized. Money is great, and I enjoy having it, but it isn’t everything…in fact, it’s just a tool to do what’s really important, which is helping others.

Speaking of money, if you haven’t already, please join the war by donating to City ACES, because we’re going coast to coast, and could use all the financial support we can get (www.cityaces.org/contribute).

Now that the show is over, the organization we partnered with is poised to take over, and continue to stoke the fire we started. Junior Achievement (http://www.ja.org/), who came to my middle school as a kid, will now do the same for these kids in Philly, and will bring in local professional leaders in the community on a weekly/biweekly basis to keep the dream alive. We’re going to do this. Believe it.

I sign off with a conversation I had with a teary eyed principal as we prepared to leave the building. She said the student who had won the third place essay (let’s call him Jimmy, to protect his identity) was in the hallway crying after the event, and that they had to calm him down, because he was so happy he had won, and achieved something. She said the child was a genius who really didn’t apply himself because he saw no reason to. She said everyone knew he was either going to Homestead (prison), or to Harvard. There was no in-between. She said on September 22nd, after our show, she had seen a glow in him that she had never seen before, and she now knew that he was going to make it. So Harvard, make room, because he’s coming through in another 5 or 6 years!

You know what? I’ll let you read part of his essay regarding why education is important:

I **Jimmy** do think education is important, and yes I want to go to college. Education would enhance my life, because unlike others, I want to be well educated, and want to get somewhere in life. Education to me is like money…I can’t get anywhere without it.

Before my grandpop died, he always told me that if I want the money, cars, and clothes (***note the Drake reference, LOL***) I would have to at least go to college. My goal is to go to college and be a representative for my family, and for someone to be proud of what I did for once. Some say money is a man’s dream, but actually college is. I’m going to college to be a music artist, just like my grandpop, “Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes.” He inspired me a lot. My dad tells me every day not to be like him and make his mistakes, like not going to college. People know me as funny and goofy, but this is coming from the bottom of my heart. I really want to go to college. This in not for the money, it’s for everything.

…and, a follow up email from the principal:

Frank,

I can’t tell you how much I appreciate all the time, effort, and patience that you and your group put forth on behalf of Pepper Middle School. My students are still talking about it. Assemblies such as the one we had today sends the message that with a lot of hard work and the right people pushing you forward , anything is possible! Today my students believed it. ***Jimmy*** will be proof of that. He was at the right place, at the right time, and heard the message. I hold great hope for him. Today made me remember why I became an educator.

Thanks again, Frank.

This is why I do what I do. Pictures going up as soon as the photographer gets them to me. The facebook City ACES group can be found at: (http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=140636014784). Please join.

Next stop is Washington DC, October 27th. The fight for the kid’s minds and lives is on, so please support us: http://www.cityaces.org/contribute. It’s a worthwhile cause.

NEW YORK (Reuters) By Steve Holland – Thu Jul 16, 11:30 pm ET – President Barack Obama had a tough-love message for fellow African-Americans on Thursday, urging black parents to push their children to think beyond dreams of being sports stars or rap music performers.

Obama’s election as the first African-American president buoyed the black community. At the 100th anniversary celebration of the NAACP, the country’s oldest civil rights group, he urged blacks to take greater responsibility for themselves and move away from reliance on government programs.

“We need a new mindset, a new set of attitudes — because one of the most durable and destructive legacies of discrimination is the way that we have internalized a sense of limitation; how so many in our community have come to expect so little of ourselves,” he said.

Obama told a packed ballroom at a Manhattan hotel that blacks need to recapture the spirit of the civil rights movement of a half century ago to tackle problems that have struck African-Americans disproportionately — joblessness, spiraling healthcare costs and HIV-AIDS.

“What is required to overcome today’s barriers is the same as was needed then — the same commitment. The same sense of urgency. The same sense of sacrifice,” he said.

Obama said parents need to force their children to set aside the video games and get to bed at a reasonable hour, and push them to set their sights beyond such iconic figures as NBA star LeBron James and rap singer Lil Wayne.

Education is the path to a better future, said Obama.

“Our kids can’t all aspire to be the next LeBron or Lil Wayne. I want them aspiring to be scientists and engineers, doctors and teachers, not just ballers and rappers. I want them aspiring to be a Supreme Court justice. I want them aspiring to be president of the United States,” he said.

Obama noted that his own life could have taken a different path, had it not been for his mother’s urgings.

‘SHE TOOK NO LIP’

“That mother of mine gave me love; she pushed me, and cared about my education,” he said. “She took no lip and taught me right from wrong. Because of her, I had a chance to make the most of my abilities. I had the chance to make the most of my opportunities. I had the chance to make the most of life.”

We got there bright and early, and were greeted with the sound of the DJ already in the mix gettin’ busy. You know how you feel when you’re on the verge of something big, and you’re really nervous, but not scared? Well that’s how I felt at that moment, but I knew that after all the work we had put in, there was no way this “coming out party” could fail. Show’s starting at 9:30 a.m., but we’re good to go at 8:45…banners up, DJ giving the station call letters *mic check, mic check*, speakers and athletes trickling in one by one: the Mayor, Peter Speaks (Gov. Ed Rendell’s special counsel), Leonce Crump, Kristal Turner-Childs, Josh, Tyrell, and Dan from the Penn State football team, the marching band, the step team…

At 9:00 a.m. it seemed as if someone turned on the faucet, because the trickle of students suddenly becomes a flood. All of a sudden, there they all were: Black kids, Asian kids, White kids, Latino kids, and they just kept coming! Final tally came to about 1,800 kids, and it was a beautiful sight to behold.

In reality it takes quite a bit of adjustment when you see that many children in one place, because up until that moment, they were abstract. What do I mean by that? Well, 1,800 kids on paper is a wholly different experience than seeing 1,800 kids in the flesh.

So, I zone out for a minute, just letting the moment sink in, thinking “Wow, we’re about to do something great…” The next thing I know, Leonce is shaking me saying “Look at all these kids…look at all these kids!!!”. I snap back to reality, because we go live in 5 minutes. At this point I’m being grabbed by the Mayor’s assistant to take a picture with him and the rest of our guests for the papers. Turn left, turn right, look straight, squeeze in tighter…smile!!

Okay, 1 minute until go-time. ..30 seconds…10…the Mayor’s on stage giving the welcoming remarks.

The DJ begins a school roll call. IS ROWLAND IN THE HOUSE?! MELROSE, WHERE YA AT?! DOWNEY…the buzz is tremendous at this point, and 1,800 kids are going crazy.

The DJ then has a mini dance off on stage between the schools, each with a representative doing the “bird-walk”.

Up next, is motivational speaker Kristal Turner-Childs for the young ladies in the crowd. See, we have fun, but our goal is to also give the kids a target and vision of who they can be in 10, 15, or 20 years. Kristal is a classy, sophisticated lady, with a message of esteem that the girls needed to hear. It comes as no surprise that the exit surveys show she was a favorite among the girls.

The High School Drumline and Blue White Step team are up next…their drums are beatin’ like the Congo, and the step team is showing the middle schoolers how it’s done. The kids screaming out the names of those they recognize in the band… “Get it Justin…Okay Ebony!”

Now, the show is reaching its crescendo, and this is where the athletes begin to get incorporated. To understand the turn that was happening, you MUST, MUST, MUST view this 2:33 video clip that ran on the projector, which set the stage for what was to follow.

Cue up Leonce Crump immediately following. Now, parallel the aforementioned video clip with him, except he was in the NFL when he heard the “snap”. Consider a man smart enough to understand the value of education as a fall back, and using the sport to advance himself, instead of letting the sport use him. Factor in a young man raised in the inner city around drugs, violence, and depression, fame and you’ve got one great testimony. Kids listening in rapt attention for 17 minutes, and voila! This is what we call the “moment of truth”.

Now, I’m not naive, and I know we’re not going to reach everyone, but if we get 5%, 10%, 20%, or 50%, that’s significant to the trajectory of that particular kids life. How do I know? Because the kid sitting there on Friday was me many years ago, and the words of one solitary individual changed my whole outlook on education.

We move on to the Question and Answer session of our program with Tyrell Sales, Josh Gaines, and Dan Lawlor from the Penn State football team. They step on stage and the kids are overwhelmed. At least 6 kids come running up to me in the back, asking “Can you get me their autograph?” Kids will be kids. The line to ask the Penn State players a question is growing, which is good and bad. Good because the kids really want to interact with their heroes, and bad because there is no way we can get to all their questions, due to time constraints. We allow them to ask as many questions as we can, and then it’s time to shut the show down.

I step on stage with Peter Speaks from the Governors office, allow him to give the benediction, and then I deliver the final dismissal. The kids wrangle to get close to the speakers one last time, many stealing hugs, or sharing how the assembly has motivated them, promises to do better in class, exchanging emails, or just saying thank you. We stayed almost an hour after it was over, before hunger got the better of us.

In closing, if you’ve been around me long enough, you’ve no doubt heard me state that “life is nothing more than a series of moments in time”, and those moments on the morning of April 17th were some of the most meaningful moments I have had the privilege of experiencing in a long time.

Here is a sample of some of the responses we got from our exit surveys:

“I want to be an inventor.” 8th grader
“We have more people than we thought that care about us”. 6th Grader
“I learned that you can be ‘anything, anything’, you can be” 6th Grader
“I learned that you should always have a plan B” 6th grader
“When people are in foster homes, you can still be what you want to be” 6th grader
“That nothing can stop me from being what I want to be!” 6th grader
“Don’t let people tell you that you are nothing!” 6th grader
“I learned to believe in my dream” 6th grader
“I want to be a midwife when I grow up.” 7th grader
“I learned that I can be a SOMEBODY!” 8th grader
“If I believe in myself and don’t listen to negative stuff people tell me, I can achieve anything and be what I want to be.” 6th grader
“I learned that athletes do care about us kids and our future.” 8th grader
“I need to stop thinking negative thoughts.” 8th grader
“You don’t have to be an athlete to get out of the hood.” 7th grader
“The people who spoke on stage are really serious about our education.” 7th grader
“I want to be a basketball player, but my back-up plan is to be an accountant.” 6th grader
“I want to help people but I’m unsure of how. I want to be successful.” 8th grader
“I want to be an atmospheric and space scientist” 7th grader

If you believe in what we’re doing, and the Spirit moves you, we’re gladly accepting donations. From New York to California, we plan on making you all believers…stay tuned.