Last week, four of our upperclassmen raced each other down a very public flight of stairs. I smiled and waved them on, despite the many important eyes that turned to follow their movement. There would be no stopping them anyway — these students were drawn by the irresistible light of celebrity. When they reached the bottom, they gathered around the special guest and, giddy for autographs, attempted conversation. One asked for his phone number. She received it, and two of the kids got warm bear hugs.

The guest was renowned intellectual and author Cornel West. The stairs were in the newly renovated Franklin Theater, part of Philadelphia’s Franklin Institute. The students were juniors at the Science Leadership Academy. They were invited to serve as hosts for the Institute’s “Politics of Slavery and Race in America” lecture. As a bonus for taking tickets and guiding people to their seats, they were given free admission to the event.

This comes from Matt Kay’s latest post on the New York Times Lesson Plans site — The New Village. In it, he speaks to the need for the adults of a community to step up and work with kids to give them the role models they need. He does this in the context of our Franklin Institute partnership, our Individualized Learning Plans and the experiences that our students have through those programs — including meeting Cornell West last week.

It’s a fantastic piece of writing, and he speaks to the transformative nature of these partnerships — and how important they are for our kids. I just want to add that it is my hope that the adults who work with the students of SLA feel, in some way, transformed and enriched by their interaction with the kids too.