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LeBron James' New School Will Primarily Serve Low-Income and At-Risk Students
NBA superstar LeBron James has once again proven that he is one of the most charitable athletes in the world as he launched another philanthropic project. This time, it is a public elementary school that will serve low-income and at-risk students in his hometown in Akron, Ohio.
As a kid, James attended an Akron Public School and had experienced being an at-risk student himself. According to one of his tweets, he missed 83 days of school. Thankfully, the community intervened, helped him and looked after him.
James has been inspired by those experiences. For some time now, he has been working in the community to help low-income residents, especially the youth, through his LeBron James Family Foundation.
The latest project he worked on is in collaboration between his foundation and the Akron, Ohio Public Schools. The project, called the I Promise School, focuses on educating children with difficult backgrounds. Some students belong to low-income families while others are at-risk students.
The I Promise School, which has been launched last Monday, will cater to around 240 third and fourth graders in the area. The school is expected to expand each year, going to second and fifth grades next year, until it is grades 1 to 8 in the year 2022.
Classrooms will hold 20 students per teacher. There will be over 40 staff members who will work in the school to accommodate for the longer school day (eight hours) and school year. This way, the students who seem to be behind their peers in academic performance will get to really focus on their studies.
The students will also be served breakfast, lunch, and a snack every day and will each receive a bicycle. Each students' family will also be offered GED classes and job placement assistance. Moreover, students who will complete the school program and graduate from high school are promised a college scholarship from the University of Akron, also courtesy of James.
Meanwhile, it seems that there is no stopping James from helping others.
"I don't have a ceiling to how much I can improve my game," James 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."
For more details about the I Promise school, visit www.lebronjamesfamilyfoundation.org/page/ipromiseschool