Eighth Graders Pick John Legend’s Brain
Source: The Artist's Organization
As you may well know, Grammy-winning singer/songwriter/philanthropist/registered heartthrob John Legend visited Stockard Middle School yesterday. A board member of Teach for America, he was there to tout the program and hand over $5,000 for Stockard’s music department from corporate sponsor JC Penny.
Legend didn’t get all musical, but a few students at the eighth-grade assembly sang and played keyboard in tribute. Others stuck him with questions such as these — scripted and admin-approved, but still pretty cute:
If you were a teacher, what grade and subject would you teach, and why?
Hrmmmm [everyone giggles]. I’d probably teach high school, because I don’t have any kids yet, so I can probably relate to high-school kids a little more than I can relate to younger kids right now …
If you could go back to college now, what college would you go to, what would you study, and why?
Legend has an English degree from the University of Pennsylvania; He’d keep his same alma mater and not change much, he said, other than to be a little more engaged and have more dialogue with professors. And yes, college rules.
Not only do you learn a lot from some of the smartest people in the world, but you’re surrounded by smart people, and you make friends that’ll last you a lifetime.
The singer got far heavier questions, too, about what he thinks could end the cycle of poverty (solid communities, solid schools, and ambitious kids, he said), and how students can help the educational system (don’t worry about it while you’re so young; just excel in school, help others along the way, and plan to give back when you can).
When one little girl asked about his influences, he cited his grandmother, who played the organ at church, then Stevie Wonder, Nat King Cole, and Martin Luther King, Jr.
“He represented someone who stood against injsutice who was a leader, and who did it nonviolently, in a way that made amazing dramatic changes in this country. Just 50 years ago, this country was divided by segregation … your grandparents, your aunts and uncles might be 50 or 60 years old, and this was in their lifetime.”
Admirably, Legend never plugged the fact that he’s about to go on tour in October; he is, and you can check out his calendar here.
1 comment to "Eighth Graders Pick John Legend's Brain"
Physical education uses various sports to work out the human body. One of the sections in physical education is running in which the students run various distances on the track. Running those various distances burns calories and trims excess fat keeping the body slim. These exercises also help prevent certain types of diabetes, heart problems, and lung problems. Other sports included are softball, basketball, flag football, and weightlifting. All these sports are catalyst to muscle build and fat reduction.
In the human body the brain works better when there is more blood flowing through it. Exercises such as running and calisthenics get the blood flowing throughout the body. With the blood flowing more from exercise the brain will have more activity and will be more prime for learning. With students having more brain activity from exercise and more energy gained from exercise they will show to be more productive in the classroom.
Physical education is just as important to students as math, English, and science. The thought that the implementation of exercise is irrelevant to young human bodies is ridiculous. Exercise has been proven to be necessary for humans to live a healthy life. How can students pass a test if they are too fat to walk to the classroom? Without energy and enthusiasm in students school will just be another prison.
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