On Monday, May 14, 2012, musician Big Sean, a Detroit native, will act as “Principal for the Day” at Lincoln High School, one of United Way’s “Network of Excellence” schools. As principal, Big Sean will visit classrooms, co-teach classes and participate in an assembly of the entire Lincoln student body. Lincoln High School won the Get Schooled Detroit Attendance Challenge after improving its attendance a dramatic 8.56% year-over-year during the competition.
“Showing up to school, all day, every day, is one of the most important things students can do to reach their educational goals and to go on to success later in life,” said Big Sean. “I am so proud of my hometown of Detroit for tackling attendance issues head on and I am so excited to celebrate the achievements of the students who worked so hard throughout the attendance challenge.”
Big Sean will also join MTV host Sway and local radio personality, Coco of FM 98 WJLB, at an all-school event to recognize the students’ and staff accomplishments. They will be joined on stage by Mark Reuss, President of GM North America, Chris Perry, Chief Marketing Officer of Chevrolet and United Way for Southeastern Michigan, Carl Folta, Executive Vice President of Communications of Viacom and Get Schooled Foundation Board Member, and Kevin Liles, former President of Def Jam and senior advisor to Get Schooled. The special guests will encourage the students to stay focused on their education and to make their education a priority in their lives.
Big Sean attended the Detroit Waldorf School, a school of art, from kindergarten to 8th Grade. He later attended and graduated from Cass Technical High School. Big Sean signed first to Kanye West’s music label, GOOD, in 2007 and then to Island Def Jam in 2008. Following the release of Big Sean’s trilogy of mixtapes, Def Jam released his hit album, Finally Famous, in July of 2011 which debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 chart.
Big Sean will also meet with No Excuses, a group of eleventh grade students at Osborn Academy of Mathematics, which wrote, produced and performed “Daily Routine,” the winning entry in the Get Schooled Video Contest. In a show of collaboration between the schools that participated in the Challenge, the members of No Excuses, Amanda Swealingum, Destiny Mitchell, Shania Cobb, Tennie Jackson and Yazmine Roberts, will team up with a student from Osborn Academy of Mathematics, Edward Cunningham, for a live performance of “Daily Routine” at the assembly.
Thirty students from Osborn Academy of Mathematics, the Challenge’s second place finisher, and East Detroit High School, the Challenge’s third place finisher, will also be present at Lincoln to be recognized for their accomplishments in significantly improving their attendance.
Research shows that attendance is one of the greatest predictors of graduation and a significant driver of student achievement. According to a 2008 study by UCLA, students with more than 20 absences in any given year have only a 19 percent chance of graduating.
