Giving Compass' Take:

· Global Citizen discusses the opening of LeBron James' new I Promise school and takes a look at a few of the amazing things this institution will offer to help students succeed. 

· How is this school different in comparison to other celebrity-inspired schools? How will this affect the community? What resources are given to the students who attend? 

· Read more about LeBron James' new school.

On Monday, James opened the “I Promise” school, a collaboration with Akron Public Schools in Akron, Ohio, which seeks to help kids who are behind in their educations get back on track.

“I want people to know that these kids should still have the same opportunity as everybody else,” he said at the school’s opening. “That’s what’s most important. Us as adults, we have a responsibility to not let these kids down, to continue to be the teachers, the mentors, the parents, the coaching, the life skills, the superheroes ... whatever it is that gives the inspiration, everything, that’s our responsibility. These kids are our future and they have dreams and aspirations bigger than the city of Akron, than the state of Ohio, than the USA.”

The school currently serves 240 at-risk third and fourth graders, but will expand each year to eventually span first grade through eighth grade.

Here are seven amazing aspects of the I Promise school:

  1. The school will be open longer than traditional schools
  2. There’s free breakfast, lunch, and snacks, and an on-site food bank
  3. The school offers GED classes and job training for parents
  4. Students will be taught how to cope with trauma
  5. Every student gets a bike
  6. They also get Chromebooks
  7. The school is beautiful

Read the full article about LeBron James' new school by Joe McCarthy at Global Citizen.