As part of American Graduate Day on Saturday, Sept. 27, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., KERA TV is airing a live national broadcast focusing on the people who are keeping kids on track to high school graduation.
North Texas is also home to a few 'champions' of education -- people like Jasmine Africawala, librarian at the Dallas Public Library; Nakia Douglas, principal of Barack Obama Male Leadership Academy; and Betsy Price, mayor of Fort Worth.
Betsy Price, Mayor of Fort Worth
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUPlo7wvr7I
Fort Worth mayor Betsy Price promotes active lifestyles for kids through the FitWorth Healthy City Initiative. FitWorth works with schools to encourage better nutrition and increased physical activity for students.
“Kids spend more time out of school than in school,” Price says. “Educators will tell you that kids who are healthier and fitter learn better.”
Jasmine Africawala, Librarian at the Dallas Public Library
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDKnO8IKx84
Jasmine Africawala is a librarian at the Dallas Public Library and serves as the community engagement coordinator. She oversees programs that help non-English speaking adults and children and those without a high school diploma – in Dallas County, that’s 25 percent of the population. Africawala is a first generation American and her mother taught herself English.
“Parents want to provide for their children and children want to make their parents proud,” she says.
Nakia Douglas, Principal of Barack Obama Male Leadership Academy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdwe1q_7uMs
As principal of Barack Obama Male Leadership Academy, Nakia Douglas doesn’t just focus on academics. “What we really look at in success is how our students are becoming better sons, better siblings, what type of stewards they are to the community,” he says.
This special is part of KERA’s American Graduate Initiative.
