John Legend and the Show Me Campaign!

John Legend and the Show Me Campaign!

John Legend, a nine-time Grammy Award winner is on a quest to ensure that every child in the USA has access to good education! He founded the Show Me Campaign in 2007 to break the cycle of poverty through education.

Fact: More than thirteen million children live in poverty in the United States.

Poverty is often handed down from generation to generation. When a child is born into a poor family, they’re likely to stay that way. A good education is the best tool you can give a child to break out of the cycle of poverty and yet, across the United States, many students are forced to attend failing schools. U.S. high school graduation rates have fallen from #1 to #18 in the world. One third of American children don’t graduate from high school. Just 15% of our schools – the ones we call “drop out factories” – are responsible for 50% of the drop out students and those schools are more likely to have a majority of students who are African American or Latino. Yet there are great reasons for hope. Schools across the country are defying the odds and helping kids succeed in even the most challenging neighborhoods. The Show Me Campaign focuses on education reform to ensure that every child has the opportunity to shine.

The mission of the Show Me Campaign is to break the cycle of poverty using solutions that have been proven to improve people’s lives and to give them the opportunities to survive, thrive and succeed.

An inside look at the Show Me Campaign!
One may ask, how one many has the vision and tenacity to make this vision a reality! Key to his plan, John Legend is on the move to personally visit schools and encourage youth to stay in school. In an interview with USA Today John Legend tells a bit more about the foundation and his goals.

“We focus very intently on advocating that every kid in America deserves to get a quality education. There are many different models for how that can be achieved. My goal is to bring attention to the programs that are working. As part of that process, we visit schools across the country — in New York City, Houston, Los Angeles and elsewhere — to learn what they are doing right. I’m pretty hands-on during my visits, talking with the students, teachers and principals about what’s working,” says Legend.

The Show Me Fellows Program
The Show Me Campaign Fellowship, launched in 2009, encourages young people who are dedicated to helping improve the world. The Fellowship provides $3000 stipends for college students who have unpaid internships during the summer in the areas of international development (specifically eradicating global poverty) and improving education in the United States. Show Me Campaign Fellows are leaders committed to social justice. They are persons who witness injustice and act on it. They want to improve the world and inspire others to join them. This blog will share the fellows’ reflections on their summer experiences. To learn more about the Fellows Program visit www.showmefellows.tumblr.com.

Beyond the Show Me Campaign, Legend Shines as true Philanthropist.

Over the summer John Legend visited the International Rescue Committee’s Refugee Youth Summer Academy in Brooklyn. The academy prepares newly arrived refugee youth ages 5 to 19 to succeed in New York City public schools. In his role as an IRC Voice, John visited with these students and volunteers to learn about the program.

He gave a special Salute to DC Public Schools’ Highest Performing Teachers and gave a special performance to teachers of the Teach for America Program.

With nine Grammy’s under his belt and a heart of gold to match, we salute John Legend for his work and countless philanthropic efforts in the areas of poverty and education!

Be sure to keep John Legend in mind for the Upcoming BCG Awards! To learn more about the Show Me Campaign visit www.showmecampaign.org!