An Inspiration -- He didn't shut up and he didn't just dribble.
Aug 1, 2018 21:02:56 #
Inside LeBron James’s New $8 Million Public School, Where Students Get Free Bikes, Meals, and College Tuition
'OUR PRESIDENT IS TRYING TO DIVIDE US.' LEBRON JAMES SAYS SPORTS SHOULD BE USED TO UNITE
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By MAX ZAHN July 31, 2018
Basketball star Lebron James, who briefly split the Internet asunder with his recent choice to depart the Cleveland Cavaliers for the Los Angeles Lakers, has made sure to leave something behind in Ohio: a public school for at-risk students.
James knows what it’s like to be an at-risk student himself. As a fourth grader, he says, he missed 83 days of school while he and his mother moved from one couch or spare room to the next. He credits mentors, some of whom he met at school, with a turnaround that helped him attend every day of fifth grade — which was also the first year he played organized basketball.
Now, 240 third- and fourth-graders will make up the inaugural class at the I Promise School, which opened this week in James’ hometown of Akron, Ohio.
The unusual school is a public school formed in collaboration between James’ philanthropic foundation and Akron Public Schools. Its out-of-the-box offerings include a long school day (eight hours); a “support circle” for students after lunch; and GED courses and job placement for parents. All are driven by James’ mission to help kids overcome what he faced as a low-income student in Akron, he says.
James, who has won three NBA championships and four league-MVPs, called the school opening the greatest moment of his career.
“Walking these hallways and seeing, when I was driving here, just the streets that I walked, some of the stores are still up when I was growing up,” he told ESPN. “It’s a moment I’ll never forget — and hopefully the kids, starting with the 240 kids that we have going in here right now starting today, will never forget it, either.”
Here’s everything you need to know about Lebron James’ I Promise School in Akron, Ohio.
How to Get Into Lebron James’ I Promise School
The school selected area students from among those who trail their peers by a year or two in academic performance. “We did a random se******n of all students who met that criteria, and got to make these awesome phone calls to parents and say, ‘How would you like to be part of something different, the I Promise School,’” Keith Liechty, the Akron Public Schools’ liaison to James’ foundation, told USA Today.
The school is launching with third- and fourth-graders, but plans to add grades each year until it houses first through eighth grade in 2022.
What’s Special About Lebron James’ I Promise School?
Forty-three staffers will help run the I Promise School — including not just teachers but also a principal, assistant principal, four intervention specialists, plus a tutor, English as a second language teacher, music instructor, and gym teacher, USA Today reports. Classrooms will hold 20 students per teacher.
The most unique feature of the school may be the most ordinary: it’s a traditional public school. Celebrities often back charter schools, like the Harlem academy founded by Sean “Diddy” Combs and the Detroit charter named after former NBA player and ESPN analyst Jalen Rose. Or they open unorthodox private schools — think Elon Musk’s 40-student school, situated in a conference room at Space X, where kids play with flamethrowers.
James made a point of giving Akron a new public school. “It’s not a charter school, it’s not a private school, it’s a real-life school in my hometown,” he told ESPN. “And this is pretty cool.”
Ida Bae Wells
I cannot say how impressed I am that the school @kingjames is opening today to serve low-performing students is a traditional public school. Instead of taking resources from the Akron Public Schools, he is adding to them. This is doing the work. Bravo. https://www.si.com/nba/2018/07/29/lebron-james-i-promise-school-opening-akron-ohio …
Ida Bae Wells
@nhannahjones
This is what believing in the common good looks like. LeBron doesn't need public schools. He could build a school just 4 his own kids. Yet, he is investing for the good of community, while also not extracting resources from public schools that most black kids in the city attend.
That said, the school is far from traditional. Its lengthy school day runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., along with an extended school year that runs from July through May. During a seven-week summer session, the school will provide STEM-based camps. Students will spend time each day on social-emotional learning, and participate in a “supportive circle” after lunch aimed at helping them refocus on work, Cleveland.com reports.
Nutrition is also central to the school’s mission. Every day students will receive free breakfast, lunch, snacks and drinks. They will have access to a fitness trainer. James says that, as a kid, he used his bicycle to explore different neighborhoods of Akron — so he gave one to every incoming student.
Since the school considers education to be not just for the pupil but for the whole family, it will offer GED classes and job placement assistance for parents and guardians. “It is about true wrap-around support, true family integration and true compassion,” Brandi Davis, I Promise principal and Akron native, told USA Today.
Students get one other notable benefit: If they successfully complete the school program and graduate from high school, James will cover their full tuition at the local public college, University of Akron.
The Akron school district expects to spend a total of $8.1 million over the next five years for the I Promise school, according to a report in Akron’s Beacon Journal. James’ family foundation will cover the costs of other extra school features, and with its partners has already contributed $2 million for building upgrades, extra staffing and other needs, the paper notes.
James Praised by Celebrities and NBA Players
Stephen Curry, Warriors guard and on-court rival of James, greeted the opening of the school with a two-word exclamation: “Freaking Amazing!”
Stephen Curry
✔
@StephenCurry30
Freaking amazing! 👏🏽👏🏽
David Dennis Jr.
✔
@DavidDTSS
read this on LeBron's school. then read it again. This is incredible, man. and doesn't appear to be one of those celebrity boutique schools built on respectability politics. Chills, man.
Fellow NBA superstars Chris Paul and Dwyane Wade lauded the opening. “Proud of you for chasing your dreams and in turn, giving the opportunity to hundreds of kids to realize theirs,” Paul tweeted.
Other prominent figures weighed in as well. The musician Common tweeted a video of a young male student marveling at the school’s interior. “The look on this boys face as he enters the school says it all,” Common wrote. “Love.”
And CNN contributor Ana Navarro noted, “The same guy some folks suggested should, ‘shut-up and dribble.’ Instead, he put-up and gave back to at-risk kids.”
James, meanwhile, doesn’t seem to be giving up on his Ohio roots.
“I don’t have a ceiling to how much I can improve my game,” he told ESPN. “And we as a foundation don’t have a ceiling on how much we can improve our community, to a point where we have a school.”
'OUR PRESIDENT IS TRYING TO DIVIDE US.' LEBRON JAMES SAYS SPORTS SHOULD BE USED TO UNITE
×
By MAX ZAHN July 31, 2018
Basketball star Lebron James, who briefly split the Internet asunder with his recent choice to depart the Cleveland Cavaliers for the Los Angeles Lakers, has made sure to leave something behind in Ohio: a public school for at-risk students.
James knows what it’s like to be an at-risk student himself. As a fourth grader, he says, he missed 83 days of school while he and his mother moved from one couch or spare room to the next. He credits mentors, some of whom he met at school, with a turnaround that helped him attend every day of fifth grade — which was also the first year he played organized basketball.
Now, 240 third- and fourth-graders will make up the inaugural class at the I Promise School, which opened this week in James’ hometown of Akron, Ohio.
The unusual school is a public school formed in collaboration between James’ philanthropic foundation and Akron Public Schools. Its out-of-the-box offerings include a long school day (eight hours); a “support circle” for students after lunch; and GED courses and job placement for parents. All are driven by James’ mission to help kids overcome what he faced as a low-income student in Akron, he says.
James, who has won three NBA championships and four league-MVPs, called the school opening the greatest moment of his career.
“Walking these hallways and seeing, when I was driving here, just the streets that I walked, some of the stores are still up when I was growing up,” he told ESPN. “It’s a moment I’ll never forget — and hopefully the kids, starting with the 240 kids that we have going in here right now starting today, will never forget it, either.”
Here’s everything you need to know about Lebron James’ I Promise School in Akron, Ohio.
How to Get Into Lebron James’ I Promise School
The school selected area students from among those who trail their peers by a year or two in academic performance. “We did a random se******n of all students who met that criteria, and got to make these awesome phone calls to parents and say, ‘How would you like to be part of something different, the I Promise School,’” Keith Liechty, the Akron Public Schools’ liaison to James’ foundation, told USA Today.
The school is launching with third- and fourth-graders, but plans to add grades each year until it houses first through eighth grade in 2022.
What’s Special About Lebron James’ I Promise School?
Forty-three staffers will help run the I Promise School — including not just teachers but also a principal, assistant principal, four intervention specialists, plus a tutor, English as a second language teacher, music instructor, and gym teacher, USA Today reports. Classrooms will hold 20 students per teacher.
The most unique feature of the school may be the most ordinary: it’s a traditional public school. Celebrities often back charter schools, like the Harlem academy founded by Sean “Diddy” Combs and the Detroit charter named after former NBA player and ESPN analyst Jalen Rose. Or they open unorthodox private schools — think Elon Musk’s 40-student school, situated in a conference room at Space X, where kids play with flamethrowers.
James made a point of giving Akron a new public school. “It’s not a charter school, it’s not a private school, it’s a real-life school in my hometown,” he told ESPN. “And this is pretty cool.”
Ida Bae Wells
I cannot say how impressed I am that the school @kingjames is opening today to serve low-performing students is a traditional public school. Instead of taking resources from the Akron Public Schools, he is adding to them. This is doing the work. Bravo. https://www.si.com/nba/2018/07/29/lebron-james-i-promise-school-opening-akron-ohio …
Ida Bae Wells
@nhannahjones
This is what believing in the common good looks like. LeBron doesn't need public schools. He could build a school just 4 his own kids. Yet, he is investing for the good of community, while also not extracting resources from public schools that most black kids in the city attend.
That said, the school is far from traditional. Its lengthy school day runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., along with an extended school year that runs from July through May. During a seven-week summer session, the school will provide STEM-based camps. Students will spend time each day on social-emotional learning, and participate in a “supportive circle” after lunch aimed at helping them refocus on work, Cleveland.com reports.
Nutrition is also central to the school’s mission. Every day students will receive free breakfast, lunch, snacks and drinks. They will have access to a fitness trainer. James says that, as a kid, he used his bicycle to explore different neighborhoods of Akron — so he gave one to every incoming student.
Since the school considers education to be not just for the pupil but for the whole family, it will offer GED classes and job placement assistance for parents and guardians. “It is about true wrap-around support, true family integration and true compassion,” Brandi Davis, I Promise principal and Akron native, told USA Today.
Students get one other notable benefit: If they successfully complete the school program and graduate from high school, James will cover their full tuition at the local public college, University of Akron.
The Akron school district expects to spend a total of $8.1 million over the next five years for the I Promise school, according to a report in Akron’s Beacon Journal. James’ family foundation will cover the costs of other extra school features, and with its partners has already contributed $2 million for building upgrades, extra staffing and other needs, the paper notes.
James Praised by Celebrities and NBA Players
Stephen Curry, Warriors guard and on-court rival of James, greeted the opening of the school with a two-word exclamation: “Freaking Amazing!”
Stephen Curry
✔
@StephenCurry30
Freaking amazing! 👏🏽👏🏽
David Dennis Jr.
✔
@DavidDTSS
read this on LeBron's school. then read it again. This is incredible, man. and doesn't appear to be one of those celebrity boutique schools built on respectability politics. Chills, man.
Fellow NBA superstars Chris Paul and Dwyane Wade lauded the opening. “Proud of you for chasing your dreams and in turn, giving the opportunity to hundreds of kids to realize theirs,” Paul tweeted.
Other prominent figures weighed in as well. The musician Common tweeted a video of a young male student marveling at the school’s interior. “The look on this boys face as he enters the school says it all,” Common wrote. “Love.”
And CNN contributor Ana Navarro noted, “The same guy some folks suggested should, ‘shut-up and dribble.’ Instead, he put-up and gave back to at-risk kids.”
James, meanwhile, doesn’t seem to be giving up on his Ohio roots.
“I don’t have a ceiling to how much I can improve my game,” he told ESPN. “And we as a foundation don’t have a ceiling on how much we can improve our community, to a point where we have a school.”
Aug 1, 2018 21:06:35 #
Richard94611 wrote:
Inside LeBron James’s New $8 Million Public School... (show quote)
LeBron is a big wuss.
He should stick to basketball because he is obviously miseducated in regard to politics.
Aug 1, 2018 21:09:21 #
Your post is the most amusing one I have seen in weeks.
Wolf counselor wrote:
LeBron is a big wuss.
He should stick to basketball because he is obviously miseducated in regard to politics.
He should stick to basketball because he is obviously miseducated in regard to politics.
Aug 1, 2018 21:09:55 #
proud republican
Loc: RED CALIFORNIA
Richard94611 wrote:
Inside LeBron James’s New $8 Million Public School... (show quote)
Sports also shouldnt be political!!!.......Not a place for protests!!!
Aug 1, 2018 21:11:47 #
Why not ? So you can feel comfortable with prejudice and injustice ? A perfect place for protests !
proud republican wrote:
Sports also shouldnt be political!!!.......Not a place for protests!!!
Aug 1, 2018 21:22:27 #
proud republican
Loc: RED CALIFORNIA
Richard94611 wrote:
Why not ? So you can feel comfortable with prejudice and injustice ? A perfect place for protests !
If i was to protest at my work,i would be fired the next day......Football is their job...I have nothing against them protesting wh**ever they want, but not during their work hours...Besides when people go to see sports or movies or shows like Oscars,they dont want to see politics,they want to get away from politics...Dont you get it???..That is why so many people stopped watching all these entertainment
Aug 1, 2018 21:22:48 #
Richard94611 wrote:
Inside LeBron James’s New $8 Million Public School... (show quote)
I have about the same interest in LeBron James' comments on Trump's handling of politics, as I would have in POTUS Trump's comments on LeBron's handling of the ball, ..... absolutely frickin none!
Aug 1, 2018 21:33:23 #
no propaganda please
Loc: moon orbiting the third rock from the sun
Trooper745 wrote:
I have about the same interest in LeBron James' comments on Trump's handling of politics, as I would have in POTUS Trump's comments on LeBron's handling of the ball, ..... absolutely frickin none!
Aug 1, 2018 21:40:59 #
I am sure Lebron knows a hell of a lot more about politics and decency than Trump does about basketball and decency.
Trooper745 wrote:
I have about the same interest in LeBron James' comments on Trump's handling of politics, as I would have in POTUS Trump's comments on LeBron's handling of the ball, ..... absolutely frickin none!
Aug 1, 2018 22:05:55 #
Richard94611 wrote:
I am sure Lebron knows a hell of a lot more about politics and decency than Trump does about basketball and decency.
Comments like that convince me you are certainly one of the extreme l*****t moonbats from the left coast that have no ability to ascertain t***h whatsoever. Of course, you can believe whomever you wish.
I'm not at all surprised that you find LeBron to be a genius on politics, ... you're on the same mental level as that babbling i***t.
Aug 1, 2018 22:17:19 #
Trooper, I think my ability to know the difference between t***h and falsehood is a lot better than that of the Trump supporters in this forum. I did not say LeBron is “a genius on politics.” I posted an article about a terrific educational institute he is funding. I wish public schools had a lot of its attributes — longer school days, more days of school per year, greater support in many ways for the students. You got objections to this?
Trooper745 wrote:
Comments like that convince me you are certainly one of the extreme l*****t moonbats from the left coast that have no ability to ascertain t***h whatsoever. Of course, you can believe whomever you wish.
I'm not at all surprised that you find LeBron to be a genius on politics, ... you're on the same mental level as that babbling i***t.
I'm not at all surprised that you find LeBron to be a genius on politics, ... you're on the same mental level as that babbling i***t.
Aug 1, 2018 23:53:05 #
Richard94611 wrote:
Trooper, You got objections to this?
None. He can spend his money on anything he wishes. Spending on school children is admirable, although it appears that his good endeavors are much related to the fact that he happens to have married a woman who is much smarter than he. Savannah is very dev**ed to LeBron, and it appears that she will make him look good as long as he continues to make ridiculously large sums of money, and continues to share it with her.
Aug 1, 2018 23:59:11 #
What do you know about the comparative intelligence of Savannah and LeBron ? I think you are seeing them in the worst possible light, one that is probably not true.
Trooper745 wrote:
None. He can spend his money on anything he wishes. Spending on school children is admirable, although it appears that his good endeavors are much related to the fact that he happens to have married a woman who is much smarter than he. Savannah is very dev**ed to LeBron, and it appears that she will make him look good as long as he continues to make ridiculously large sums of money, and continues to share it with her.
Aug 2, 2018 00:11:15 #
Richard94611 wrote:
What do you know about the comparative intelligence of Savannah and LeBron ? I think you are seeing them in the worst possible light, one that is probably not true.
Do a little research. Savannah is much more educated and certainly appears to have at least 20 to 30 points higher IQ than LeBron. Without her, he'd be just another ignorant basketball player saying stupid things.
Aug 2, 2018 00:18:08 #
I honestly don’t care enough to do research about this. I just think you are judging him inaccurately.
Trooper745 wrote:
Do a little research. Savannah is much more educated and certainly appears to have at least 20 to 30 points higher IQ than LeBron. Without her, he'd be just another ignorant basketball player saying stupid things.
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