In one of the more feel-good stories of the sports world this year, LeBron James officially opened a school in his hometown of Akron, Ohio. Sure, joining perhaps the most recognizable team in basketball is cool, but opening a school aimed at helping underprivileged children is something special. James says it is more special than any other achievement in his illustrious basketball career, something he doubled down on in an interview with ESPN’s Rachel Nichols.
“I do. I do mean it,” James says in regards to the school opening being his greatest achievement. “I can sit here and be at a loss for words, which I am now. This is my first time here, 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. 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.”
James, as it is famously noted, grew up in a difficult environment and relied on good-natured people around him to help mold him into the person he is today. The children of Akron face many of those difficult issues that James did decades ago. As of 2016, 25.4 percent of people lived in poverty with a median household income of $35,240. LeBron hopes to make some dreams come true and show children what exactly they are capable of doing.
“You didn’t know what was possible for you because you kind of always paid attention to the statistics,” James continued. Growing up in the inner city, the numbers are always stacked up against you. So you didn’t really know what was possible. I think what happened for me was that I got some mentors and little league coaches and some teachers that I kind of started to believe in. And they started to make my dreams feel like they could actually become a reality.”
The “I Promise” public school will begin with 240 students, 120 in third grade and 120 in fourth grade. The school year is longer than most, focused on accelerated learning and bringing children up to speed if they are behind.
The original plans for the school began in November of 2017, In less than a year a fully-funded school was designed, built, had a coordinated curriculum, and opened. That is some incredible work done by Lebron and his foundation.
