Honoring an educator for Black History Month

ByGMA Staff

Video Transcript

Reporter: Now to our Saturday spirit. This week we’re honoring Black History Month by highlighting the work of an amazing educator. Our friend Sean Larry Stevens joining us right here who is with us now, and Janae saw his great work firsthand. Right. So a couple of weeks ago we went out to his school, KIPP Collegiate Academy. That’s where I first met Sean, sat down with him and met his incredible students to talk about the difference he’s making in their lives, how he’s inspiring them with a little bit of dancing and a whole lot of heart. Take a look. Principal Sean Stevens isn’t your ordinary principal. For the students of KIPP Newark Collegiate Academy, he’s a whole lot more.

KIPPster 1: “He shows us what it means to walk in your excellence, to be the best you.” KIPPster 2: “Keep being you because everyone looks up to you.”

Reporter: The 32-year-old principal has been making a difference as an educator for 11 years and specifically enjoys the challenges of working in a high school.

Sean: “People are scared of high schoolers, and I love it.”

Reporter: And being a black man at the helm of a school with predominantly black and brown students means principal Stevens is unique in more than one way.

Sean: “There are 2% of black men who go into education in general, and sometimes it’s very isolating, but it’s also very empowering, right? So every day I try to walk in that level of excellence.”

Full transcript here