“The World Awaits You!” is my message to the girls at Ivy Prep Academy this month. Showing our girls we Love them begins with empowering them to achieve their dreams! It’s important for our young, black and brown girls to see Black men empowering them to be successful.
Dear Ivy Scholars,
Standing up for what is right isn’t always easy.
We fight against peer pressure, societal pressures influences from social media, celebrities and entertainers often times can be distracting, overwhelming and disappointing, leaving us with a false sense of hope.
Remember the words of our former First Lady, Michelle Obama,
“When they go low, we go high!”
Taking the high road isn’t easy, but it’s worth it.
It’s the perfect example of why we must stand up for what is right, even when others oppose us.
Being successful is going to require hard-work, dedication and discipline.
That means that homework matters.
Homework is the equivalent of conditioning, training or practice.
Practice makes perfect. The same applies to the brain.
Ivy is your practice field to create, learn and grow.
The next chapter of your life is another training session that will be filled with new lessons to master, new obstacles to overcome.
The years of high school and beyond will help you identify your purpose and equip you to live it.
When you reach your senior year of high school, before you cross the threshold from childhood to young adulthood and embark upon your life after K -12, come back and empower the young girls who will be sitting where you are right now.
Share with them your successes.
Remind them of all the important lessons you’ve learned here at Ivy and how high school is about applying the skills and knowledge you’re practicing today.
You also have a responsibility to come home and make the same difference in the lives of young girls who will be looking up at you.
I am empowering all of Ivy girls to soar through the glass ceiling; it’s been cracked.
It’s your time to soar and the world awaits you!
Jason has worked in education for over 15 years as a teacher, blogger and community advocate. He speaks and writes primarily about the need to improve education for Black boys, particularly increasing the number of Black male educators in schools. In addition to blogging here at EdLanta, Jason is also a featured writer at Education Post.