The Truth Staff
On Monday, August 19, a sizeable group of influential men and women arrived early at the Martin Luther King, Jr, Academy for Boys and the Ella P. Stewart Academy for Girls to welcome the students back on the first day of the 2024-25 academic year.
The men formed a line on the sidewalk outside of MLK Academy and offered words of encouragement and shook hands with each young boy before he entered the school building.
At Ella P. Stewart, the women received a greeting from the school’s first year principal, Shannon Tisdale Carter, in the auditorium, before lining up in the hallways to greet the young students. Earlier in the morning, the men at MLK had extended warm welcomes to the arriving students but the women were much more raucous with their welcome. They cheered, clapped, shouted, waved pompoms and created excitement.
The greetings at both schools won’t end there for many of these students. A number of community leaders will be involved with the students during the rest of the academic year serving as mentors and hosting special events.