I am a huge fan of Viacom’s Get Schooled program, I mean I really love it!; plus I’m a huge fan of Kendrick Lamar so you know I loved it when they teamed up to give back! The now platinum selling artist took a break from touring to play principal for the day at Mount Pleasant High School in Providence, RI. The school received the opportunity after its students won the Get Schooled National Attendance Challenge. The day was extra special for Lamar who is the first in his family to graduate high school, he gave the students a motivational speech, encouraging them to focus on their education.
And his giving continued. It’s not every day that students get to sit down for a one-on-one with the number one hip hop artist in the game, but that’s exactly what happened at Bethel Regional High School. As the first place winners of the Future Forward Challenge, the Alaskan school chopped it up with Kendrick Lamar!
“Being able to Skype with the students at Bethel is a great experience,” said Kendrick. “They did so much hard work and having this moment with them is priceless for me and them.”
For three months the students competed against hundreds of other schools across the nation by playing educational games, taking polls, searching for scholarships and submitting great things about their teachers. But it was FAFSA completions that really blew their competition out of the water! According to the US Department of Education, 61% of Bethel seniors completed a FAFSA compared to a 41 percent average for seniors nationwide. Part of their reward was a Skype call with Kendrick Lamar.
The students were able to ask Kendrick questions about his music and dealing with thousands of fans; take pictures with him online and perform a few of their own rhymes for him. No matter what topics came up during the conversation, Kendrick reminded the students to stay focused on their education.
It was Kendrick’s seventh grade English teacher who motivated him to write poetry and improve his vocabulary, which ultimately led to his success as an artist. After sharing his own story, he encouraged the students to keep up the great work and continue on to college.
After 45 minutes of Skyping with the students, he rapped two verses of his chart-topping hit “Swimming Pools,” to the students and of course the students joined in! “To know that I’m able to have a presence in Alaska and have an impact with the students in Alaska is incredible,” he said. “Today was great! I hope we can do this again with Get Schooled and another school.”
Source Get Schooled
